Risale-i Nur

The Staff of Moses

In His Name, be He glorified!

This strange age, just as the believers have intense need for the Risale-i Nur, so school teachers and students of science have great need for The Staff of Moses, and teachers of religion and 'hafizes' are in great need of Zülfikâr.

For in the treatise on the Qur'an's miraculousness, for example, many verses that have been subject to questioning and objections are shown to contain flashes of miraculousness and many fine and subtle points.

In His Name, be He glorified!

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.

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

My Dear, Loyal Brothers,

Now that the Risale-i Nur is being duplicated by machine and is spreading generally and many school children and teachers who study modern science and philosophy are holding fast to it there is a point that needs explanation:

The philosophy the Risale-i Nur strikes at fiercely and attacks is not absolute, but the harmful sort. For the philosophy and wisdom that serve the life of human society, and morality and human attainments, and industry and progress, are reconciled with the Qur'an. Indeed, such philosophy serves the Qur'an's wisdom and does not oppose it. This sort the Risale-i Nur does not bother with.

As for the other sort, since it both leads to misguidance, atheism, and the swamp of nature, and is the cause of vice and dissipation, heedlessness and misguidance; and since with its spellbinding wonders it opposes the Qur'an's miraculous truths; the Risale-i Nur attacks and deals slaps at it with the powerful proofs in the comparisons contained in most of its parts. It does not attack beneficial, rightly-guided philosophy. Members of the secular schools can therefore embrace the Risale-i Nur without hesitation or objection.

But completely meaninglessly and unjustly, secret dissemblers are turning a number of hojas against the Risale-i Nur, which is the true property of all the people of the medreses [religious schools], and they similarly excite the scholarly pride of certain philosophers. It is possible they will do this to harm the Risale-i Nur, so it is appropriate to include this piece at the beginning of the collections, The Staff of Moses and Zülfikar.

In His Name, be He glorified!

The Twenty-Eighth Flash and Eighth Ray prove with the same number that in his Jaljalutiyya Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) gave news of the Risale-i Nur and its important treatises almost explicitly. He also foretold its final treatise with the lines: "And by the name of the Staff of Moses the darkness will be scattered." A couple of years ago I supposed The Supreme Sign to be the final part of the Risale-i Nur, but now, since in '64 (1944) it was completed; and since the above lines predict a treatise that would disperse the darkness and give light and negate the sorcery; and since the first section of this collection, The Fruits of Belief, acted as our court defence and scattered the awesome darkness that had descended upon us; and the second section dispelled the darkness of philosophy, which had formed a front against the Risale-i Nur, and compelled the Ankara committee of experts to submit and appreciate it; and since there are numerous signs that it will disperse the darknesses of the future; and since just as the staff of Moses (PUB) caused twelve springs to gush forth and was the means of eleven miracles occurring, so the present collection consists of the eleven light scattering Topics of The Fruits of Belief and the eleven certain proofs of The Conclusive Proof, - these have all given me the conviction that with the above lines Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) was looking directly at this collection called The Staff of Moses, and that he was predicting it and applauding it.

This is a defence of the Risale-i Nur against atheism and absolute disbelief. It is our true defence in this imprisonment of ours, for it is the only thing we are working at. This treatise is a fruit and souvenir of Denizli Prison, and the product of two Fridays.

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

And he languished in prison for a number of years more. {[*]:}

According to an inner meaning of this verse, Joseph (Peace be upon him) is the patron of prisoners and prison is a sort of School of Joseph. Since this is the second time the Risale-i Nur students have been sent to prison in large numbers, we should study and teach in this school which has been opened to give this training the brief summaries of a number of matters connected with prison that the Risale-i Nur proves, and to benefit from them thoroughly. We shall explain five or six of those summaries.

The First Topic

As is explained in the Fourth Word, everyday our Creator bestows on us the capital of twenty-four hours of life so that with it we may obtain all the things necessary for our two lives. If we spend twenty-three hours on this fleeting worldly life and neglect to spend the remaining one hour, which is sufficient for the five obligatory prayers, on the very lengthy life of the hereafter, it may be understood what an unreasonable error it is, and what a great loss to suffer distress of the mind and spirit as the penalty for the error, and to behave badly because of the distress, and to fail to rectify one's conduct due to living in a state of despair, indeed, to do the opposite. We may make the comparison,

We should think of what a profitable ordeal it is if we spend the one hour on the five obligatory prayers, for each hour of this calamitous term of imprisonment sometimes becomes a day's worship and one of its transient

hours becomes many permanent hours, and our despair and distress of the spirit and heart in part disappears and is atonement for the mistakes that led to the imprisonment and is the cause of their being forgiven. We are trained and improved, which is the purpose of imprisonment, so should think of that and its being instruction and a pleasant and consoling meeting with our companions in disaster.

As is explained in the Fourth Word, it may be understood how contrary it is to a person's interests to give five or ten liras out of his twenty-four to a lottery in which a thousand people are taking part in order to win the thousand-lira prize, and not give a single lira out of the twenty-four for a ticket for an everlasting treasury of jewels, and to rush to the former and flee from the latter, although the chance of winning the thousand liras in the worldly lottery is one in a thousand because there are a thousand people taking part. However, in the lottery of man's destiny which looks to the hereafter the chance of winning for the people of belief, who experience happy deaths, is nine hundred and ninety-nine out of a thousand. This has been told by one hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets and confirmed by incalculable numbers of truthful saints and purified scholars as a result of their illuminations.

Prison governors and chief warders, and indeed the country's administrators and the guardians of public order, should be grateful at this lesson of the Risale-i Nur, for the government and disciplining of a thousand believers who constantly have in mind the prison of Hell is far easier than that of ten unbelievers who do not perform the obligatory prayers, only think of worldly prisons, do not know what is licit and what is illicit, and are in part accustomed to living undisciplined lives.

A Summary of the Second Topic

As is well explained in A Guide for Youth from the Risale-i Nur, it is as definite and obvious that death will befall us as the night will follow today and winter, this autumn. Just as this prison is a temporary guesthouse for those who continuously enter and leave it; so the face of the earth is a hostel on the road of the swiftly travelling caravans which alight for one night then pass on. Surely death, which has emptied all the cities into the graveyard a hundred times over, has demands greater than life. The Risale-i Nur has solved the riddle of this awesome truth and discovered its answer. A short summary is this:

Since death cannot be killed nor the door of the grave be closed, if there is a way of being saved from the executioner of the appointed hour and the solitary confinement of the grave, it is a question, an anxiety, for man of greater importance than anything. Yes, there is a solution, and through the mystery of the Qur'an the Risale-i Nur has proved it as certainly as two plus two equals four. A brief summary of it is as follows:

Death is either eternal annihilation, a gallows on which will be hanged both man and all his friends and relations; or it comprises the release papers to depart for another, eternal, realm, and to enter, with the document of belief, the palace of bliss. The grave is either a bottomless pit and dark place of solitary confinement, or it is a door opening from the prison of this world onto an eternal, light-filled garden and place of feasting. A Guide for Youth has proved this truth with a comparison.

For example; gallows have been set up in this prison yard, and behind the wall immediately beyond them a huge lottery office has been opened. The whole world is taking part in the lottery it is holding. We five hundred people in this prison are certain to be summoned one by one without exception to that arena; to avoid it is not possible. Everywhere announcements are being made: "Come and receive your decree of execution and mount the gallows!" or: "Receive your note for everlasting solitary confinement, and take that door!" , or: "Good news for you! The winning ticket worth millions has come up for you. Come and receive it!" We see with our own eyes that one after the other they are mounting the gallows. We observe

that some are being hanged, while others are making the gallows a step and moving onto the lottery office beyond the wall. Just at that point, which we know as though we have seen it from the certain information given by the high-ranking officials there, two groups have entered our prison.

One group are holding musical instruments, wine, and apparently sweet confections and pastries which they are trying to make us eat. But the sweets are in fact lethal, for satans in human form have laced them with poison.

The second group are carrying instructive writings, licit foods, and blessed drinks. They present them to us and all together say to us with great earnestness: "If you take and eat the gifts the first group gave you by way of testing you, you shall be hanged on these gallows before us like the others you have seen. But if you accept the gifts we have brought you on the command of this country's Ruler instead of them and recite the supplications and prayers in the instructive writings, you shall be saved from execution. Believe as though you were seeing it that each of you shall receive the winning ticket worth millions in the lottery office as a royal favour. These decrees say, and we ourselves say the same: if you eat those illicit, dubious, and poisonous sweets, you shall suffer terrible pains from the poison until you go to be hanged."

Like this comparison, for the people of belief and worship - on condition they have happy deaths - the ticket for an everlasting and inexhaustible treasury will come up from the lottery of man's destiny beyond the gallows of the appointed hour, which we always see. For those who persist in vice, unlawful actions, unbelief, and sin, however, there is a hundred per cent probability that on condition they do not repent, they will receive the summons to either eternal annihilation (for those who do not believe in the hereafter), or to permanent, dark solitary confinement (for those who believe in the immortality of man's spirit, but take the way of vice) and eternal perdition. Certain news of this has been given by the hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets {[*]:} with their innumerable miracles, which confirm them; and by the more than one hundred and twenty-four million saints, who see in their illuminations the traces and shadows - as though on a cinema screen - of what the prophets have told and put their signatures to it, affirming it; and by the more than thousands of millions of investigative scholars, {(*):} interpreters of the law, and veracious ones who with decisive proofs and powerful arguments prove according to reason and absolutely

certainly the things told by those two eminent groups of mankind, and have set their signatures to them. The situation then of someone who does not heed the news given unanimously by the decrees of these three vast and elevated communities and groups of the people of reality, who are the suns, moons, and stars of mankind and the sacred leaders of humanity, and does not take the straight path which they have pointed out, and disregards the awesome ninety-nine per cent danger, and abandons that way due to one person saying there is danger on it and takes another, lengthy, way - his situation is as follows:

The wretch who since he has abandoned, according to the certain news of innumerable well-informed observers, the shortest and easiest of the two ways, which with a hundred per cent certainty will lead to Paradise and eternal happiness, and has chosen the roughest, longest way, which is most fraught with difficulties and is ninety-nine per cent certain to lead to incarceration in Hell and everlasting misery; who leaves the short way because, according to the false information of a single informer, there is a one per cent chance of danger and the possibility of a month's imprisonment, and chooses the long way, which is without benefit, just because it holds no danger, like drunken lunatics; such a wretch has lost his humanity, mind, heart, and spirit to the extent that he ignores the terrible dragons which are seen from afar and are pestering him, and struggles against mosquitoes, attaching importance to them alone,

Since this is the reality of the situation, we prisoners should accept the gifts of the second, blessed, group so that we avenge ourselves totally for this calamity of prison. That is to say, just as the pleasure of a minute's revenge or a minute or two, or an hour of two, of vice, or this calamity, has put us in this prison for fifteen, five, ten, or two or three years, and made our worlds into a prison; so to spite it, we should avenge ourselves on this calamity by transforming an hour or two of our prison lives into a day or two of worship, and our two or three-year-sentences - through the gifts of the blessed group - into twenty or thirty years of permanent life, and our prison sentences of twenty or thirty years into a means of being released from millions of years of incarceration in the dungeons of Hell. In the face of our transitory worlds' weeping, we should make our everlasting lives smile. We should show that prison is a place of training and education, and each of us try to be well-behaved, reliable, useful members of our nation and country. The prison officers, administrators, and governors should see that the men they supposed to be criminals, bandits, layabouts, murderers, depraved, and harmful to the country are students studying in this blessed place of instruction, and should proudly offer thanks to God.

The Third Topic

This is the summary of an instructive incident which is described in A Guide for Youth.

One time, I was sitting by my window in Eskişehir Prison during the Republic Festival. Opposite me, the older girls of the High School were laughing and dancing in the schoolyard. Suddenly their condition fifty years hence appeared to me, as though on a cinema screen. I saw that of those fifty to sixty girl students, forty to fifty had become earth in their graves and were suffering torments. While ten were ugly seventy to eighty-year-olds who were despised where they might have expected love because they did not preserve their chastity when young. This I observed with complete certainty and I wept at their piteable states. Some of my friends in the prison heard my weeping and came and asked me about it. I told them: "Leave me alone for now, I want to be alone."

Yes, what I saw was reality, not imagination. Just as the summer and autumn are followed by winter, so the summer of youth and autumn of old age are followed by the winter of the grave and Intermediate Realm. If there were a cinema which showed the events of fifty years in the future, the same as those of fifty years ago are shown in the present, and the people of misguidance and vice were to be shown their circumstances of fifty or sixty years hence, they would weep in horror and disgust at their unlawful pleasures and those things at which they now laugh.

When preoccupied with these observations in Eskişehir Prison, a collective personality which spreads vice and misguidance was embodied before me like a human satan. It said:

"We want to experience all the pleasures and joys of life, and to make others experience them; don't interfere with us

I replied: Since you do not recall death and plunge yourself into vice and misguidance for pleasure and enjoyment, you should certainly know that due to your misguidance, all the past is dead and non-existent; it is a desolate graveyard full of rotted bodies. The suffering arising from those innumerable separations and the eternal deaths of those numberless friends inflicted on your head through the concern of your humanity and your misguidance, and on your heart if you have one and it is not dead, will soon destroy your insignificant drunken pleasure of the present. The future too,

due to your unbelief, is a non-existent, black, dead, and desolate wasteland. And since the heads of the unfortunates who appear from there, sticking them out into existence while stopping by in the present, are struck off by the executioner's sword of the appointed hour and thrown into non-existence, it continuously rains down grievous worries on your unbelieving head due to the concern of your intellect, completely overturning your petty, dissolute pleasure.

If you give up vice and misguidance and enter the sphere of certain, affirmative belief {[*]:} and righteousness, you will see through the light of belief that the past is not non-existent and a graveyard that rots everything, but an existent, light-filled world which is transformed into the future and into a waiting-room for the immortal spirits who will enter palaces of bliss in the future. Since it appears thus, it affords not pain, but according to the strength of belief, a sort of paradaisical pleasure. The future, too, appears to the eye of belief not as a dark wasteland, but where banquets and exhibitions of gifts have been set up in palaces of everlasting bliss by the Most Merciful and Compassionate One of Glory and Bestowal, whose mercy and munificence are infinite and who makes the spring and summer into tables laden with bounties. Since the person observes this on the cinema screen of belief, he knows he will be despatched there, he may experience the pleasures of the eternal realm. All may do this according to their degree. That is to say, true, painfree pleasure is found only in belief in God, and is possible only through faith.

Since it is related to our discussion, we shall explain here by means of a comparison that is included in A Guide for Youth as a footnote, one single benefit and pleasure out of the thousands that belief produces in this world too. It is as follows:

For example, your beloved only child is suffering the pangs of death and you are thinking despairingly that you will be eternally parted from him when suddenly a doctor like Khidr or Luqman the Wise arrives with a wondrous medicine. Your lovely, lovable child opens his eyes, delivered from death. You can understand what joy and happiness it would give you.

Now, like the child, millions of people whom you earnestly love and are concerned for are - in your view - rotting in the graveyard of the past and are about to be annihilated when suddenly the reality of belief, like Luqman the Wise, shines a light from the window of heart onto the graveyard,

which is imagined to be a vast place of execution. Through it, all the dead spring to life. On their declaring through the tongue of disposition: "We did not died and shall not die; we shall meet with you again," you feel an endless joy, which belief gives in this world too,. This proves that belief in God is a seed that if embodied would give rise to a private paradise, becoming the Tuba-tree of that seed. I told the collective personality this, but in its stubbornness, it said:

"At least we can live like animals, passing our lives in pleasure and enjoyment, and indulging in amusement and dissipation and not thinking about these difficult matters."

I told it by way of an answer:

"You cannot be like an animal, for animals have no past and future. They feel neither sorrows or regrets at the past, nor anxiety and fear at the future. An animal experiences perfect pleasure; it sleeps and rises and thanks its Creator. One held down to be slaughtered, even, does not feel anything. It wants to feel it as the knife cuts, but that feeling disappears as well and it is saved from the pain. This means that that the Unseen not being made known and the things that will befall us being veiled is a great instance of divine mercy and compassion. This is more complete for innocent animals. But, O man, your past and future emerge from the Unseen to an extent because of your reason, so you are entirely deprived of the animals' lack of concern due to the Unseen being concealed from them. The regrets and painful separations coming from the past, and the anxieties coming from the future reduce to nothing your insignificant pleasure; they make it a hundred times less than that which the animals receive. Since the reality is this, either throw away your intellect and become an animal and be saved, or come to your senses through belief; listen to the Qur'an and receive pure pleasure a hundred times greater than that of the animals in this transitory world too." Saying this, I silenced it.

But that obdurate collective personality still turned to me and said: "At least we can live like those Westerners who are without religion."

I replied: "You cannot be like the irreligious people of Europe, either. For even if they deny one prophet, they can believe in the others. If they do not know the prophets, they may believe in God. And even if they do not know God, they may possess personal qualities by virtue of which they find fulfilment. But if a Muslim denies the Prophet of the End of Time (Peace and blessings be upon him), who was the final and greatest of the prophets and whose religion and cause are universal, and if he abandons his religion, he will accept no other prophet and perhaps not even God. For he knows all the prophets and God and all perfections through the Prophet of

the End of Time (Peace and blessings be upon him); the others can have no place in his heart without him. It is for this reason that since early times people have entered Islam from all other religions, but no Muslim has become a true Jew, Magian, or Christian. Muslims who abandon their religion become irreligious, their characters are corrupted, and they become harmful for the country and nation." I proved this, and the obstinate collective personality could find no further straw to clutch at, so it vanished and went to Hell.

My friends who are studying together with me in this School of Joseph! Since the reality is this and the Risale-i Nur proves it as clearly and decisively as sunlight, for twenty years it has broken the obstinacy of the obdurate and induced them to believe; we should therefore follow the way of belief and right conduct, which is easy and safe and beneficial for both our own worlds, and our futures, and our lives in the hereafter, and our country and nation; and spend our free time reciting the suras of the Qur'an that we know instead of indulging in distressing fancies, and learn the meaning from friends who teach them; and make up for the prayers we have failed to perform in the past, when we should have done; and taking advantage of one another's good qualities, transform this prison into a blessed garden raising the seedlings of good character. With good deeds like these, we should do our best to make the prison governor and those concerned not torturers like the Angels of Hell standing over criminals and murderers, but righteous masters and kindly guards charged with the duties of raising people for Paradise in the School of Joseph and supervising their training and education.

The Fourth Topic

Again, there is an explanation of this in A Guide for Youth. One time, I was asked the following question by the brothers who assist me:

"For fifty days now - and now seven years have passed {(*):} you have asked nothing at all about this ghastly World War, which has plunged the whole world into chaos and is closely connected with the fate of the Islamic world, nor have you been curious about it. Whereas some religious and learned persons are leaving the congregation in the mosques and racing to listen to the radio. Is there some event more momentous than the war? Or is it harmful in some way to be preoccupied with it?"

I replied to them: Life's capital is very little and the work to be done is much. There are spheres one within the other like concentric circles from the sphere of man's heart and stomach, and that of his home and body, and that of the quarter in which he lives and his town, and his country and land, and the globe and mankind, to the spheres of animate beings and the world. Each person may have duties in each of those spheres, but the most important and permanent of these are those in the smallest sphere, while his least important and temporary duties may be in the largest sphere. According to this analogy, the largest and smallest are in inverse proportion, but because of the attractiveness of the largest sphere, it causes the person to neglect his important, necessary duties in the small sphere and busies him with unnecessary, trivial, peripheral matters. It destroys the capital of his life for nothing. It kills his precious life on worthless things. Sometimes the person following curiously the struggles of the war comes to earnestly support one side. He looks favourably on their tyranny and becomes a partner in it.

The Answer to the first point: Yes, an event more momentous than this World War and a case more important than that of world supremacy has been opened over the heads of everyone and especially Muslims, so that if everyone had the wealth and power of the Germans and English and sense as well, they would unhesitatingly spend all of it to win that single case. The case is this: relying on the thousands of promises and pledges of the universe's Owner, who has disposal over it, hundreds of thousands of the

most eminent of mankind and uncounted numbers of its stars and guides have unanimously given news - and some of them have actually seen - that for everyone the case has opened by which they may either win, in return for belief, or lose, eternal properties as broad as the earth set with palaces and gardens. If they do not secure the document of belief, they will lose. And this age, many are losing the case because of the plague of materialism. One of the diviners of reality and investigators of truth observed in one place that out of forty people who died, only a few won; the others lost. Can anything take the place of that lost suit, even rule over the whole world?

We Risale-i Nur students know it would be pure lunacy to give up the duties which will win the case and abandon the wondrous lawyer who saves ninety per cent from losing it and the task which the lawyer employs us in, and become involved with peripheral trivia as though we were going to remain in the world for ever. We are certain that if each of us had intelligence a hundred times greater than we have, we still would use it only on this task.

My new brothers here in this calamity of prison! You have seen the Risale-i Nur the same as my old brothers who entered here together with me. Citing them and thousands of students like them as witnesses, I say, I prove, and have proved, that it is the Risale-i Nur that wins that supreme case for ninety people out of a hundred, obtains for them certain, affirmative belief, which is the document and warrant that has won the case for twenty thousand people in twenty years. It has proceeded from the miraculousness of the All-Wise Qur'an and is the leading lawyer at this time. Although these eighteen years my enemies and the atheists and materialists have duped some members of the government with their exceedingly cruel plots against me, and have had us sent to prison to have us done away with - in the past as now - they have been able to cause harm to only two or three of the one hundred and thirty pieces of equipment in the steel fortress of the Risale-i Nur. That means, for those who want to engage a lawyer it is enough merely to obtain it. Also, fear not, the Risale-i Nur cannot be banned! With the exception of two or three, its treatises are circulating freely among the deputies serving the government of the republic, and its leaders. God willing, at some time happy governors and guards will distribute those lights to the prisoners, like bread and medicine, and so make the prisons into truly effective places of reform.

The Fifth Topic

As is described in A Guide for Youth, there is no doubt that youth will depart; it will change into old age and death as certainly as the summer gives its place to autumn and winter, and the day changes into evening and night. All the revealed scriptures give the good news that if fleeting, transient youth is spent on good works, in chastity and within the bounds of good conduct, it will gain for the person immortal youth.

If, on the other hand, youth is spent on vice, just as murder resulting from a minute's anger leads to millions of minutes of imprisonment, so the unlawful pleasures of youth contain more pain than pleasure; quite apart from being called to account in the hereafter, and the torments of the grave, and the regrets arising from their passing, and sins, and the penalties suffered in this world; every youth with sense will corroborate this from his own experience.

For example, the pains of jealousy, separation, and unreciprocated love transform the partial pleasure to be found in illicit love into poisonous honey. If you want to know how they end up in hospitals due to illnesses resulting from their misspent youth, and in prison due to their excesses, and in bars and dens of vice and the graveyard due to the distress arising from their unnourished hearts and spirits not performing their right functions, go and ask at the hospitals, prisons, bars, and graveyards. More than anything, you will hear the weeping and sighs of regret at the blows youths have received as the penalty for abusing their youth, and their excesses and illicit pleasures.

Foremost the Qur'an, with numerous of its verses, and all the revealed scriptures and books, give the glad tidings that if spent within the bounds of moderation, youth is an agreeable divine bounty and sweet, powerful means to good works, which yields the fruit of shining, immortal youth in the hereafter.

Since the reality is this, and since the bounds of the licit are sufficient for enjoyment, and since an hour of unlawful pleasure leads sometimes to a punishment of one, or ten, years' imprisonment; surely it is absolutely necessary to spend the sweet bounty of youth chastely on the straight path as thanks for the bounty.

The Sixth Topic

[This consists of a single, brief proof of the pillar of belief, Belief in God, for which there are numerous decisive proofs and explanations in many places in the Risale-i Nur.]

In Kastamonu a group of high-school students came to me, saying: "Tell us about our Creator, our teachers do not speak of God." I told them: "All the sciences you study continuously speak of God and make known the Creator, each with its own particular tongue. Do not listen to your teachers; listen to them.

"For example, a well-equipped pharmacy with life-giving potions and cures in every jar weighed out in precise and wondrous measures doubtless shows an extremely skilful, practised, and wise pharmacist. In the same way, to the extent that it is bigger and more perfect and better stocked than the pharmacy in the market-place, the pharmacy of the globe of the earth with its living potions and medicaments in the jars which are the four hundred thousand species of plants and animals shows and makes known to eyes that are blind even - by means of the measure or scale of the science of medicine that you study - the All-Wise One of Glory, who is the Pharmacist of the mighty pharmacy of the earth.

"To take another example; a wondrous factory which weaves thousands of sorts of cloth from a simple material doubtless makes known a manufacturer and skilful mechanic. In the same way, to whatever extent it is larger and more perfect than the human factory, this travelling dominical machine known as the globe of the earth with its hundreds of thousands of heads, in each of which are hundreds of thousands of factories, shows and makes known - by means of the measure or scale of the science of engineering which you study - its Manufacturer and Owner.

"And, for example, a depot, store, or shop in which has been brought together and stored up in regular and orderly fashion a thousand and one varieties of provisions undoubtedly makes known a wondrous owner, proprietor, and overseer of provisions and foodstuffs. In just the same way, to whatever degree it is vaster and more perfect than such a store or factory, this foodstore of the Most Merciful One known as the globe of the earth, this divine ship, this dominical depot and shop holding goods, equipment,

and conserved food, which in one year travels regularly an orbit of twenty-four thousand years, and carrying groups of beings requiring different foods and passing through the seasons on its journey and filling the spring with thousands of different provisions like a huge waggon, brings them to the wretched animate creatures whose sustenance has been exhausted in winter, - by means of the measure or scale of the science of economics which you study - this depot of the earth makes known and makes loved its Manager, Organizer, and Owner.

"And, for example, let us imagine an army which consists of four hundred thousand nations, and each nation requires different provisions, uses different weapons, wears different uniforms, undergoes different drill, and is discharged from its duties differently. If this army and camp has a miracle-working commander who on his own provides all those different nations with all their different provisions, weapons, uniforms, and equipment without forgetting or confusing any of them, then surely the army and camp show the commander and make him loved appreciatively. In just the same way, the spring camp of the face of the earth in which every spring a newly recruited divine army of the four hundred thousand species of plants and animals are given their varying uniforms, rations, weapons, training, and demobilizations in utterly perfect and regular fashion by a single Commander-in-Chief who forgets or confuses not one of them - to whatever extent the spring camp of the face of the earth is vaster and more perfect than that human army, - by means of the measure or scale of the military science that you study - it makes known to the attentive and sensible, its Ruler, Sustainer, Administrator, and Most Holy Commander, causing wonderment and acclaim, and makes Him loved and praised and glorified.

"Another example: millions of electric lights that move and travel through a wondrous city, their fuel and power source never being exhausted, self-evidently make known a wonder-working craftsman and extraordinarily talented electrician who manages the electricity, makes the moving lamps, sets up the power source, and brings the fuel; they cause others to congratulate and applaud him, and to love him. In just the same way, although some of the lamps of the stars in the roof of the palace of the world in the city of the universe - if they are considered in the way that astronomy says - are a thousand times larger than the earth and move seventy times faster than a cannon-ball, they do not spoil their order, nor collide with one another, nor become extinguished, nor is their fuel exhausted. According to astronomy, which you study, for our sun to continue burning, which is a million times larger than the earth and a million times older and is a lamp and stove in one guesthouse of the Most Merciful One, as much

oil as the seas of the earth and as much coal as its mountains or as many logs and much wood as ten earths are necessary for it not to be extinguished. And however much greater and more perfect than this example are the electric lamps of the palace of the world in the majestic city of the universe, which point with their fingers of light to an infinite power and sovereignty which illuminates the sun and other lofty stars like it without oil, wood, or coal, not allowing them to be extinguished or to collide with one another, though travelling together at speed, to that degree - by means of the measure of the science of electricity which you either study or will study - they testify to and make known the Monarch, Illuminator, Director, and Maker of the mighty exhibition of the universe; they make Him loved, glorified, and worshipped.

"And, for example, take a book in every line of which a whole book is finely written, and in every word of which a sura of the Qur'an is inscribed with a fine pen. Being most meaningful with all of its matters corroborating one another, and a wondrous collection showing its writer and author to be extraordinarily skilful and capable, it undoubtedly shows its writer and author together with all his perfections and arts as clearly as daylight, and makes him known. It makes him appreciated with phrases like, "What wonders God has willed!" and "Blessed be God!" Just the same is the mighty book of the universe; we see with our eyes a pen at work which writes on the face of the earth, which is a single of its pages, and on the spring, which is a single folio, the three hundred thousand plant and animal species, which are like three hundred thousand different books, all together, one within the other, without fault or error, without mixing them up or confusing them, perfectly and with complete order, and sometimes writes an ode in a word like a tree, and the complete index of a book in a point-like seed. However much vaster and more perfect and meaningful than the book in the example mentioned abods is this compendium of the universe and mighty embodied Qur'an of the world, which is infinitely full of meaning and in every word of which are numerous instances of wisdom, to that degree - in accordance with the extensive measure and far-seeing vision of the natural science that you study and the sciences of reading and writing that you have practised at school it makes known the Inscriber and Author of the book of the universe together with His infinite perfections. Proclaiming "God is Most Great!" , it makes Him known. Uttering phrases like "Glory be to God!" it describes Him. Acclaiming Him with words like "All praise be to God!" it makes Him loved.

"Thus, hundreds of other sciences like these make known the Glorious Creator of the universe together with His names, each through its broad

measure or scale, its particular mirror, its far-seeing eyes, and searching gaze; they make known His attributes and perfections.

"It is in order to give instruction in this matter, which is a brilliant and magnificent proof of divine unity, that the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition teaches us about our Creator most often with the verses, Sustainer of the Heavens and the Earth, {[*]:} and, He created the Heavens and Earth" {[*]:} I said this to the schoolboys, and they accepted it completely, affirming it by saying: "Endless thanks be to God, for we have received an absolutely true and sacred lesson. May God be pleased with you!" And I said:

"Man is a living machine who is grieved with thousands of different sorrows and receives pleasure in thousands of different ways, and despite his utter impotence has innumerable enemies, physical and spiritual, and despite his infinite poverty, has countless needs, external and inner, and is a wretched creature continuously suffering the blows of death and separation. Yet, through belief and worship, he at once becomes connected to a Monarch so Glorious he finds a point of support against all his enemies and a source of help for all his needs, and like everyone takes pride at the honour and rank of the lord to whom he is attached, you can compare for yourselves how pleased and grateful and thankful and full of pride man becomes at being connected through belief to an infinitely Powerful and Compassionate Monarch, at entering His service through worship, and transforming for himself the announcement of the execution of the appointed hour into the papers releasing him from duty."

I repeat to the calamity-stricken prisoners what I said to the schoolboys: "The person who recognizes Him and obeys Him is fortunate even if he is in prison, while the person who forgets Him is wretched and a prisoner even if he resides in a palace." In fact, one wronged but fortunate man said to the wretched tyrants who were executing him: "I am not being executed but being demobilized and departing for where I shall find happiness. But I see that you are being condemned to eternal execution and am therefore taking perfect revenge on you." And declaring: "There is no god but God!" he happily gave up his spirit.

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise. {[*]:}

The Seventh Topic

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

The command of the Hour [of resurrection] will be like the glance of an eye, or briefer {[*]:} * The creation of you all and the resurrection of you all is but like that of a single soul. {[*]:} * So look to the signs of God's mercy, how He gives life to the earth after its death; He it is Who will raise the dead to life, and He is Powerful over all things. {[*]:}

The prisoners in Denizli Prison who were able to have contact with me, read the lesson in the Sixth Topic I had at one time given in the tongues of the sciences to the high school pupils in Kastamonu. For they had asked me: "Tell us about our Creator," and having acquired a firm belief, they felt a longing for the hereafter. They requested of me: "Teach us also about the hereafter so that we won't be led astray by our souls and the satans of these times, and they will not again be the cause of our being sent to prison." In the face of this request of the Risale-i Nur students in the prison and the readers of the Sixth Topic, need arose for an explanatory summary of the pillar of belief in the hereafter as well, and I offered them a brief summary of various passages from the Risale-i Nur.

In the Sixth Topic we asked the heavens and the earth about our Creator, and they described Him to us as clearly as the sun in the tongues of the sciences. Now in the same way we shall ask firstly our Sustainer, whom we have learnt about, about the hereafter, then our Prophet, then the Qur'an, then the other prophets and holy scriptures, then the angels, and then the universe.

In the first stage, we ask God about the hereafter, He replies through all the envoys He has sent, and His decrees, and all His names and attributes: "Yes, the hereafter exists, and I shall send you there." The Tenth Word has proved and elucidated with twelve brilliant, decisive truths the answers about the hereafter of a number of names. Deeming those explanations to be sufficient, here we shall point them out briefly.

Yes, there is no holder of sovereignty that does not reward those who obey him and punish the rebellious. So when the holder of an eternal sovereignty which is at the degree of absolute dominicality rewards those who form a relation with him through belief and submit to his decrees, and punishes rebellious disbelievers who deny his proud sovereignty, it will be in a manner befitting his mercy and beauty, his dignity and glory. Thus, the names Sustainer of All the Worlds and Just Monarch reply to our question.

Also, we see on the face of the earth as clearly as the sun, as daylight, a general mercy and all-embracing compassion and munificence. For example, every spring that mercy adorns all the fruit-bearing trees and plants like houris; it fills their hands with every sort of fruit and they hold them out to us, saying: "Help yourselves, and eat!" It also gives us sweet, healing honey to eat from the poisonous bee, and dresses us in the softest silk by means of a handless insect. It deposits for us in a handful of tiny seeds pounds of food, making those tiny stores into reserve supplies. Such a mercy and compassion surely would not execute these lovable, grateful, worshipping believers which they nurture so kindly. Indeed they dismiss them from their duties in this worldly life to bestow on them still more brilliant instances of mercy, and in so doing the names of All-Compassionate and Munificent answer our question.

Also, we see before our eyes that a hand of wisdom works in all creatures on the face of the earth and a justice is in force with its measures, nothing superior to which the human mind can conceive of. For example, a pre-eternal wisdom inscribes in man's faculty of memory, which is one instance of wisdom in his thousands of faculties and physical systems and is as tiny as a miniscule seed, his entire life-story and the numerous events which touch on him, making it into a small library. He then places it in the pocket of his mind as a note from the register of his actions which will be published for his judgement at the Great Gathering, in order to continuously remind him of this. And an eternal justice places on all creatures their members with the finest balance, and makes all of them - from the microbe to the rhinoceros, and the fly to the simurgh bird, and from a flowering plant to the flower of the spring, which opens thousands of millions of flowers in the spring - with a beauty of art and balance with no waste within a mutual proportion, equilibrium, order and beauty; it gives all living creatures their rights of life with perfect balance, and makes good things produce good results and bad things, bad results; and since the time of Adam it has made itself felt forcefully through the blows it has dealt to rebellious and tyrannous peoples. Certainly and without doubt, just as the

sun cannot be without the day, so that pre-eternal wisdom and eternal justice cannot be without the hereafter. The names of All-Wise and Sapient, Just and Equitable would never permit the awesome injustice, inequity, and unwisdom of oppressed and oppressor being equal in death, and thus they decisively answer our question.

Also, since whenever living creatures seek their natural wishes, which are beyond their power, through the tongues of their innate abilities and essential needs, which is supplication of a sort, all their needs are given to them by a most compassionate, hearing, kind unseen hand; and since six or seven out of ten of human supplications, which are voluntary, especially those of the prophets and the elect, are accepted in a way contrary to the normal course of things; it is understood certainly that behind the veil of the Unseen is one who listens and hears the sighs of the suffering and prayers of the needy, and replies to them; he sees the least need of the smallest living being and compassionately replying by action, gratifies it. There is no possibility of doubting therefore that the one who includes in his supplication all the most important, general supplications of man, the most important of creatures, which are connected with all the divine names and attributes and are for immortality; and takes behind him all the other prophets, who are the suns, stars, and leaders of mankind, making them exclaim: "Amen! Amen!"' and for whom benedictions are recited several times every day; and to whose supplication all the members of his community rejoin: "Amen! Amen!" indeed, in whose supplication all creatures take part, saying: "Yes, O Lord! Do give what he asks! We too want what he seeks!" - of all the causes necessitating resurrection under these irresistible conditions, only a single supplication of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) for immortality in the hereafter and eternal happiness would have been sufficient reason for the existence of Paradise and creation of the hereafter, which are as easy for divine power as the creation of the spring - stating this, the names of Answerer of Prayer, All-Hearing, and All-Compassionate answer our question.

Also, since as clearly as the sun is shown by daylight, behind the veil is One who has disposal over the universal death and revivification in the alternation of the seasons on the earth; and a pen of power inscribes the mighty globe with the ease and orderliness of a garden or even a tree, and the splendid spring with the facility and symmetrical adornment of a flower, and the species of plants and animals as though they were three hundred thousand books displaying three hundred thousand samples of resurrection, all one within the other and intermingled and mixed up together yet without disarrangement or disorder, all resembling each other yet without

confusion, error, or fault; perfectly, regularly, and meaningfully; and since despite this vast profusion that One works with boundless mercy and infinite wisdom; and since He has subjugated, decorated, and furnished the vast universe for man like a house, and appointing him vicegerent of the earth, committing to him the supreme trust, from the bearing of which the mountains, sky, and earth shrank, and has raised him to the rank of commanding officer over other living beings, honoured him with the divine address and conversation, and since He has thus bestowed on man this supreme station and in all the revealed decrees promised him eternal happiness and immortal life in the hereafter; certainly and without doubt He will open up that realm of bliss for ennobled and honoured man, which is as easy for His power as the spring, and bring about the resurrection of the dead and Last Judgement - stating this, the names of Granter of Life and Dealer of Death, Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent, and All-Powerful and Knowing reply to the question we asked of our Creator.

Yes, if one considers the power which every spring raises to life identically the roots of all the trees and plants and creates the three hundred thousand plant and animal samples of the resurrection of the dead, and if one visualizes the thousand year period of each of the communities of Moses and Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon them), and they are pictured in the imagination, it will be seen that the two thousand springs {(*):} display a thousand samples of resurrection and a thousand evidences. One would have to be blind and unreasonable a thousand times over to consider bodily resurrection difficult for such a power.

Also, just as relying on Almighty God's thousands of promises, the twenty-four thousand prophets, who are the most renowned of mankind, have unanimously proclaimed and proved through their miracles that eternal happiness and immortality in the hereafter are true; so innumerable people of sainthood have put their signature to the same truth through their illuminations and unfoldings. Since this is so, surely this truth is as clear as the sun, and those who doubt it are crazy.

Yes, the ideas and judgements of one or two experts in a science or art concerning their science refute the opposing ideas of ten men who are not experts in it, even if they are experts in their own fields. Similarly, two people making a positive statement about a subject, for example, proving the crescent moon of Ramadan on the day it is uncertain, or claiming: "there is a garden on the earth where coconuts resembling cans of milk are grown"

defeat a thousand deniers, and win the case. For the one making the positive statement has only to point out the place where the coconuts are found to easily win. Whereas the one who denies it can prove his case only by searching the whole face of the earth and demonstrating that the coconuts are not to be found anywhere. So one who makes a report of Paradise and the realm of bliss and asserts that they exist wins his case by only demonstrating through illumination a shadow or distillation of it, like in the cinema, while those who deny it can only win by proving their denial by seeing the whole universe and all time from pre-eternity to post-eternity, and demonstrating it. It is because of this that the investigative scholars have agreed on the rule "on condition they are not inherently impossible, denials which are not specific but look to the whole universe like the truths of belief, cannot be proved," and have accepted it as a fundamental principle.

In consequence of this definite truth, while the opposing ideas of thousands of philosophers should not cast the slightest doubt or even suspicion on even a single truthful report concerning questions of belief, you can understand what a lunacy it is to fall into doubt at the denials of a handful of philosophers who concerning the pillars of belief understand no further than their eyes see, have no heart, are blind, and have grown distant from spiritual matters. For the pillars of faith have been agreed upon by one hundred and twenty thousand expert scholars and truthful reporters with their positive assertions, and innumerable specialists in the field of reality and investigative scholars.

Also, we see with our own eyes as clearly as daylight both in ourselves and all around us a comprehensive mercy and all-embracing wisdom and constant bestowal of grace. We observe too the traces and manifestations of an awesome sovereignty of dominicality, a precise and lofty justice, and a proud and glorious government. Indeed, the wisdom which attaches instances of wisdom to a tree to the number of its fruits and flowers; and the mercy which bestows bounties and favours on every human being to the number of his faculties, members, and feelings; and the proud, yet gracious justice which deals blows at rebellious peoples like those of Noah, Hud, and Salih (Peace be upon them) and the 'Ad, Thamud, and people of Pharoah, and protects the rights of the least living being; and 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 [straightway] come forth {[*]:}

all state the following with a majestic conciseness:

Just as at the summons of their commander and the sound of the bugle, the disciplined soldiers stationed in two barracks spring to arms and their duties; so whenever the bugle-call of Israfil (Peace be upon him) summons those lying in death in the vast heavens and in the earth, which are like two orderly barracks for the soldiers of the Pre-Eternal Monarch, obedient to His command, they will immediately don the uniforms of their bodies and rise up. Proving and demonstrating this is the same situation displayed by the beings in the barracks of the earth in the spring at the trumpet-blast of the Angel of Thunder, and from it is understood the infinite grandeur of the sovereignty of dominicality. As is proved in the Tenth Word, it is certainly therefore utterly impossible that the realm of the hereafter and arena of the resurrection and Great Gathering, which are most definitely demanded by that mercy, wisdom, grace, and justice, should not be inaugurated, and for that infinitely beautiful mercy to be transformed into ugly cruelty, and for that boundless perfection of wisdom to be turned into infinitely faulty futility and purposeless wastefulness, and that sweet grace to be transformed into bitter treachery, and that finely balanced and equitable justice to be turned into severe tyranny, and that utterly powerful and majestic eternal sovereignty to decline, and with the resurrection not occuring for it to lose all its splendour, and for the perfections of its dominicality to be marred by impotence and defect. This would be completely unreasonable and a compounded impossibility, outside the bounds of possibility and false and precluded.

For all those with intelligence would surely understand what a cruel unkindness it would be, having nurtured man so solicitously and given him through faculties like the heart and intellect a sense of longing for eternal happiness and everlasting life in the hereafter, to despatch him to eternal non-being; and how contrary to wisdom it would be, having attached hundreds of purposes and instances of wisdom to only his brain, to waste through endless death all his faculties and his abilities with their thousands of purposes thus making them devoid of all use, purpose and result; and how utterly opposed to the splendour of that sovereignty and perfect dominicality it would be, by not carrying out His thousands of promises, to demonstrate - God forbid! - His impotence and ignorance. You may make an analogy with these for grace and justice. Thus, the names of Most Merciful, All-Just, All-Wise, Munificent, and Ruler answer with the above truths the question we asked our Creator about the hereafter, and prove it as indubitably and clearly as the sun.

Moreover, we observe that prevailing over everything is a vast and

comprehensive preservation which records in their seeds, on the tablets of the World of Similitudes, in their memories, which are tiny samples of the Preserved Tablet, and particularly in the faculty of memory, which is a tiny library in man's brain which is at the same time very large, and in other mirrors, physical and non-physical, in which they are reflected, the numerous forms of all living creatures and all things, and the notebooks of the duties they perform in accordance with their essential natures, and the pages of their deeds pertaining to the glorifications they perform towards the divine names through the tongues of their beings; it inscribes them in these, and records and preserves them. Then, when the time comes - every spring, which is a flower of divine power - they display to us all those immaterial inscriptions in physical form, proclaim to the universe with millions of tongues within that supreme flower, and with the strength of millions of examples, evidences, and samples, the wondrous truth of resurrection expressed in the verse:

When the pages are spread out. {[*]:}

It proves most cogently that foremost man, and all living beings and all things, were created not to topple over into nothingness, to fall into non-existence, to be annihilated, but to win immortality through progressing, and permanence through being purified, and to take up the eternal duties required by their innate capacities.

Yes, we observe every spring that the innumerable plants which die in the doomsday of the autumn, and all the trees, roots, seeds, and grains in the resurrection of the spring recite the verse «When the pages are spread out.» Expounding each in its own tongue one meaning of the verse, one facet of it, with examples of the duties it performed in previous years, they all testify to that vast preservation. They display in everything the four vast truths of the verse,

He is the First, and the Last, the Evident, and the Inward, {[*]:}

and instruct us with the ease and certainty of the spring.

The manifestations of these four names occur in all things from the most particular to the most universal. For example, through manifesting the name of First, a seed, the source of a tree, is a precise programme of it and a small receptacle containing the faultless systems of the tree's creation and all the conditions of its formation, thus proving the vastness of divine preservation.

Then, together with the tree's seeds, its fruit manifests the name of Last; they are coffers containing the indexes of all the duties the tree has performed in accordance with its nature and the principles of its second life, thus testifying at a maximum level to divine preservation.

The tree's physical form, which manifests the name of Evident, is a finely proportioned, skilfully decorated garment. Like a seventy-hued robe of the houris which has been embroidered with gilded motifs, it demonstrates visibly the vast power, perfect wisdom, and beautiful mercy within divine preservation.

As for the machinery within the tree, which manifests the name of Inward, it is a regular, miraculous, faultless factory and workbench, a balanced cauldron of food which leaves unnourished none of its branches, fruits, or leaves, thus proving as brilliantly as the sun the perfect power, justice, and beautiful mercy and wisdom within divine preservation.

Similarly, in respect of the annual seasons the globe is a tree. Through the manifestation of the name of First, all the seeds and grains entrusted to divine preservation in the season of autumn are small collections of the divine commands concerning the formation of the tree of the face of the earth, which when it is enrobed in the garment of spring, puts forth millions of branches and twigs, and fruits and flowers. So too those seeds are lists of the principles proceeding from divine determining, and the tiny pages of the tree's deeds of the previous summer, and the notebooks of its tasks, which demonstrate self-evidently that they function through the infinite power, justice, wisdom, and mercy of a Glorious and Munificent Preserver.

Then the end of the annual tree of the earth is - in the second autumn, its depositing in those tiny containers all the duties it has performed, all the glorifications it has recited before the divine names in accordance with its creation, and all the pages of its deeds that it will publish the following resurrection of spring, - its handing them over to the hand of wisdom of the Glorious Preserver and reciting the name of He is the Last before the whole universe in innumerable tongues.

The evident face of the tree is - by its opening three hundred thousand universal sorts of blossoms, which demonstrate three hundred thousand examples and signs of the resurrection of the dead; and its spreading out innumerable tables of mercifulness, providence, compassionateness, and munificence; and its offering banquets to living beings - its reciting the name of He is the Evident with tongues to the number of its fruits, flowers, and foods, and offering praise and laudation, and showing as clearly as daylight the truth of «When the pages are spread out.»

The inner face of this majestic tree is a cauldron and workbench running

precisely and in orderly fashion incalculable numbers of regular machines and finely balanced factories, which cook thousands of pounds of food out of one ounce and offer it to the hungry. It works with such precision and balance that it leaves no room for chance to interfere. Like some angels who glorify God with a thousand tongues, with the inner face of the earth it proclaims the name of He is the Inward in a hundred thousand ways, and proves it.

Just as in respect of its annual life, the earth is a tree and makes the divine preservation within those four names a key to the door of resurrection, so in respect of its worldly life, it is again a well-ordered tree, whose fruits are sent to the market of the hereafter. It is a place of manifestation of those four names and mirror to them so broad, and road leading to the hereafter so lengthy, our minds are incapable of comprehending and describing it; we can only say this much:

As the hands of a weekly clock which count the seconds, minutes, hours, and days resemble each other and prove each other, and one who sees the movement of the second hand is bound to assent to the movement of the others; so the days, which count the seconds of this world, which is a vast clock of the Glorious Creator of the Heavens and Earth, and the years, which count its minutes, and the centuries, which show its hours, and the ages, which make known its days, all resemble and prove each other. So too the name of Preserver and those of «He is the First, and the Last, the Evident, and the Inward» inform us through innumerable signs that as certainly as the morning of this night will come, and this winter's spring, so will the everlasting spring and eternal morning come of the dark winter of this transitory world, thus answering with the above truths the question of resurrection concerning which we asked our Creator.

Also, since we see with our eyes and understand with our minds that man is the final and most comprehensive fruit of the tree of the universe.. and in respect of the Muhammadan (Peace and blessings be upon him) Reality is its original seed.. and the supreme sign of the Qur'an of the universe.. and he is its Throne Verse bearing the Greatest Name.. and the most honoured guest in the palace of the universe.. the most active functionary empowered over the other inhabitants of the palace.. the official charged with overseeing the income and expenditure, and the planting and cultivation of the gardens in the quarter of the earth in the city of the universe.. and is its most noisy and responsible minister, equipped with hundreds of sciences and thousands of arts.. and an inspector and sort of vicegerent of the Monarch of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity, under His close scrutiny, in the region of the earth in the country of the universe.. and one with disposal

over it whose actions, particular and universal, are all recorded.. who has undertaken the Supreme Trust, from which the heavens and earth and mountains shrank.. and before whom are two roads, on one of which he is the most wretched of living beings, and on the other, the most fortunate.. and he is a universal bondsman charged with most extensive worship.. the place of manifestation of the Greatest Name of the Monarch of the universe and a comprehensive mirror of all His names.. a special addressee of His, with the best understanding of His divine addresses and speech.. the most needy of the living beings of the universe.. and is a wretched living creature who has innumerable desires and goals, numberless enemies and things that harm him, despite his infinite poverty and impotence.. is the richest in regard to abilities and potentialities.. the most suffering in respect of the pleasures of life, whose enjoyment is marred by ghastly pains.. and a wondrous miracle of the power of the Eternally Besought One and marvel of divine power who is the most needy and wanting, and worthy and deserving of immortality, and seeks and beseeches eternal happiness with endless prayers, and if all the pleasures of this world were given him, his desire for immortality would not be satisfied, and who loves to the degree of worshipping Him the One who bestows bounties on him, and makes Him loved and is loved.. and all of whose faculties, which encompass the universe, testify that he was created to go to eternity.. and through the above twenty universal truths is bound to Almighty God's name of Truth; and whose actions are continuously recorded by the All-Glorious Preserver's name of Preserver, who sees the most insignificant need of the tiniest animate being, hears it plaint and responds in action; and being related to the whole universe whose deeds are written down by the "noble scribes" of that name and who more than anything else receives its attention..

As required by the above twenty truths, most certainly and without any doubt there will be a resurrection and judgement for man, and in accordance with the name of Truth, he will receive reward for his above duties and punishment for his faults, and in accordance with the name of Preserver, he will be questioned and called to account for his actions, all of which have been recorded, and the doors will be opened of the feasting halls of everlasting bliss in the eternal realm, and of the prison of eternal misery; man, who has been an officer with command over numerous species of beings in this world, and has intervened in them and sometimes thrown them into confusion, will not enter the soil never to be questioned concerning his actions, nor lay down in concealment not to be roused. For to hear the buzz of the fly and to answer it actively by giving it its rights of

life, and not to hear the prayers for eternity made through the tongues of the above twenty truths of innumerable human rights which reverberate through the heavens and earth like thunder, and to transgress all those rights, and for a wisdom which as is testified to by the order of the fly's wing wastes not even such a wing, to waste utterly man's abilities, which are bound by those truths, and his hopes and desires, which reach out to eternity, and the many bonds and truths of the universe which nourish those abilities and desires, would be such an injustice and so impossible and such a tyrannical ugliness that all beings which testify to the names of Truth, Preserver, All-Wise, All-Beauteous, and All-Compassionate reject it, declaring it to be utterly impossible and precluded. Thus, in reply to our question to our Creator about resurrection, the names of Truth, Preserver, All-Wise, All-Beauteous, and All-Compassionate, say: "Just as we are truth and reality, and the beings that testify to us are true, so the resurrection of the dead is true and certain."

And since... I was going to write more, but since the above is as clear as the sun, I have curtailed the discussion.

Thus, making an analogy with the matters in the above examples and "sinces," through their manifestations and reflections in beings, all Almighty God's hundred, indeed a thousand, names which look to the universe prove self-evidently the one they signify; so too do they demonstrate the resurrection of the dead and hereafter, and prove them definitively.

Also, just as through all His decrees and the scriptures He has revealed and most of His names, by which he is described, our Sustainer gives us sacred and decisive answers to the question we asked our Creator; so He causes it to be answered through His angels, and in another fashion through their tongue:

"There have been hundreds of incidents unanimously attested to since the time of Adam of your meeting both with spirit beings and with us, and there are innumerable signs and evidences of our existence and worship and that of the spirit beings. In agreement with each other, we have told your leaders when we have met with them that we travel through the halls of the hereafter and in some of its apartments, and we always say this. We have no doubt that the fine, eternal halls that we have wandered through, and the well-appointed decorated palaces and dwellings beyond them await important guests, in order to accommodate them. We give you certain news of this." They reply to our question thus.

Also, since our Creator appointed Muhammad the Arabian (Peace and blessings be upon him) as the greatest teacher, best master, and truest guide, who is neither confused nor confuses, and sent him as His last

envoy, before anything, in order to progress and advance from the degree of 'knowledge of certainty' to those of 'vision of certainty' and 'absolute certainty,' we should ask this master the question we asked of our Creator. For just as that Being, through his thousand miracles, which were a mark of our Creator's confirmation, and as a miracle of the Qur'an, proved that the Qur'an is true and God's Word; so, through its forty aspects of miraculousness, as a miracle of his, the Qur'an proves that he was true and God's Messenger. The reality of resurrection which they prove - one, the tongue of the Manifest World, claimed it throughout his life, confirmed by all the prophets and saints, and the other, the tongue of the World of the Unseen, claims it with thousands of its verses, confirmed by all the revealed scriptures and truths of the universe - is as certain as the sun and daylight.

Yes, a question like resurrection, which is the most strange and awesome matter and beyond the reason, could only be solved through the instruction of two such wondrous masters, and understood.

The reason the early prophets did not explain resurrection in detail like the Qur'an was that at that time mankind was still at a primitive stage of nomadism. There is little detailed explanation in preliminary instruction.

And since the angels inform us that they have seen the hereafter and the dwellings of the eternal realm, evidences testifying to the existence and worship of the angels, spirits, and spirit beings, are also indirect evidence for the existence of the hereafter.

And since after divine unity the thing Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) most constantly claimed and asserted throughout his life was the hereafter, certainly all his miracles and proofs which point to his messengership and veracity in one way testify indirectly to the existence of the hereafter and that it will come.

And since one quarter of the Qur'an is about resurrection and the hereafter and it tries to prove it with thousands of its verses, and gives news of it, all the proofs and evidences of the Qur'an's veracity prove indirectly the existence of the hereafter, and its being thrown open.

Now see how firm and certain is this pillar of belief!

A Summary of the Eighth Topic

[In the Seventh Topic we questioned numerous levels of beings about the resurrection of the dead, but curtailed the discussion because since the replies given by the Creator's names afforded such powerful certainty, they left no need for further questions. Now in this Topic are summarized a hundredth of the benefits of belief in the hereafter, including those which result in happiness in this world and in the next. The Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition leaves no need for further explanation concerning the happiness of the hereafter, so we refer the subject to the Qur'an. And leaving the explanations of worldly happiness to the Risale-i Nur, here we shall describe in summary form three or four out of hundreds of results of belief in the hereafter which look to man's individual life and social life.]

The First

Just as, contrary to other living beings, man has relations with his home, so he has relations with the world, and just as he has relations with his relatives, so by nature he has earnest relations with mankind. And just as he desires temporary permanence in this world, so he passionately desires immortality in the realm of eternity. And just as he strives to meet the need of his stomach for food, so he is by nature compelled to strive to provide for the stomachs of his mind, heart, spirit, and humanity, He has such hopes and desires that nothing apart from eternal happiness can satisfy them. As is mentioned in the Tenth Word, even, when small, I asked my imagination: "Do you want to live for a million years and rule the world but then cease to exist, or to live for ever but have an ordinary and difficult existence?" I saw that my imagination wanted the latter, feeling pain at the first, and said: "I want to live for ever, even if in Hell !

Thus, since the pleasures of this world do not satisfy the imaginative faculty, which is a servant of human nature, man's comprehensive nature is certainly attached to eternity. For man, therefore, who despite being afflicted with these boundless hopes and desires as capital has only an insignificant faculty of will and absolute poverty, belief in the hereafter is a

treasury of such strength and sufficiency; is such a means of pleasure and happiness, source of help, refuge, and means of consolation in the face of the endless sorrows of this world, and is such a fruit and benefit that if the life of this world were to be sacrificed on the way of gaining it, it would still be cheap.

Its second fruit and benefit, which looks to man's personal life

This is a consequence of great importance which is explained in the Third Topic, and about which is a footnote in A Guide for Youth.

Man's greatest and most constant anxiety is his entering the place of execution that is the graveyard, the same as his friends and relations have entered it. Wretched man, who is ready to sacrifice his very soul for a single friend, thinks of the thousands, millions, or thousands of millions of friends who have been eliminated and have parted for all eternity, and suffers torments worse than Hell. Just at that point belief in the hereafter comes, opens his eyes, and raises the veil. It tells him: "Look!" He looks with belief, and seeing that those friends have been saved from eternal death and decay and are awaiting him happily in a luminous world, he receives a pleasure of the spirit that intimates the pleasures of Paradise. Sufficing with the explanations and proofs of this consequence in the Risale-i Nur, we cut this short here.

A third benefit pertaining to personal life

Man's superiority over other living beings and his high rank are in respect of his elevated qualities, comprehensive abilities, universal worship, and his extensive spheres of existence. However, the virtues he acquires like zeal, love, brotherhood, and humanity are to the extent of the fleeting present, which is squeezed between the past and the future, which are both non-existent, and dead, and black.

For example, he loves and serves his father, brother, wife, nation, and country, whom he formerly did not know and after parting from them, will never see again. He would very rarely be able to achieve complete loyalty and sincerity, and his virtues and perfections would diminish proportionately. Then, just as because of his intelligence, he is about to fall headlong from being the highest of the animals to the lowest and most wretched, belief in the hereafter comes to his assistance. It expands the present, as constricting as the grave, so that it encompasses the past and future and is as broad as the world, and shows the bounds of existence to stretch from pre-eternity to post-eternity. Thinking of his father being in the realm of bliss and world of spirits and the fraternity of his brothers continuing to

eternity, and knowing that his wife will be a beautiful companion in Paradise also, he will love and respect them, be kindly and assist them. He will not exploit the important duties which are for relationships in that broad sphere of life and existence for the worthless matters of this world, with its petty hatreds and interests. His good qualities and attainments will advance to the degree he is successful in being earnestly loyal and truly sincere, and his humanity will increase. Although he does not receive the pleasure from life that a sparrow receives, he becomes the most eminent and happy guest in the universe, superior to all the animals, and the best loved and most acceptable servant of the universe's Owner. This consequence has also been elucidated with proofs in the Risale-i Nur, so here we suffice with this.

A fourth benefit of belief in the hereafter, which looks to man's social life

A summary of this result is set forth in the Ninth Ray of the Risale-i Nur, it is as follows:

Children, which form a quarter of mankind, can live a human existence only through belief in the hereafter, and sustain their human capacity. They otherwise live only childish, empty existences, blunting their grievous pains with trifling playthings. For the effect of the constant deaths around them of children like themselves on their sensitive minds, and weak hearts which in the future will nurture far-reaching desires, and their vulnerable spirits, makes their minds and lives into instruments of torture. But then, through instruction in belief in the hereafter, in place of their anxieties, and the playthings behind which they hid so as not to see those deaths, they feel a joy and expansion, and say: "My brother or my friend has died and become a bird in Paradise. He is flying around and enjoying himself better than we are. And my mother has died, but she has gone to divine mercy. She will again take me into her embrace in Paradise and I shall see her again." They may live in a state befitting humanity.

It is only in belief in the hereafter that the elderly, who form another quarter of mankind, can find consolation, in the face of the close extinction of their lives and their entering the soil, and their fine and lovable worlds coming to an end. Those kindly, venerable fathers and devoted, tender mothers would otherwise feel such a disturbance of the spirit and tumult of the heart that the world would become a despairing prison for them and life, a ghastly torture. But then belief in the hereafter says to them: "Don't worry! You have an immortal youth; a shining, endless life awaits you. You will be joyfully reunited with the children and relatives you have lost.

All your good deeds have been preserved and you will receive your reward." It affords them such solace and joy that were they to experience old age a hundred times over all at the same time, it would not cause them despair.

One third of mankind is formed by the youth. With their turbulent emotions, the youths are not always able to control their bold intelligences and are overcome by their passions. If then they lose their faith in the hereafter and do not recall the torments of Hell, it puts in danger the property and honour of the upright people in society, and the peace and self-respect of the weak and elderly. One youth may destroy the happiness of a contented home for one minute's pleasure, then pay the penalty in prison for four or five years, degenerating into a wild animal. If belief in the hereafter comes to his assistance and he swiftly comes to his senses, saying: "It's true the government informers can't see me and I can hide from them, but the angels of a Glorious Monarch who has a prison like Hell see me and are recording all my evil deeds. I am not free and independent; I am a traveller charged with duties. One day I too will be old and weak." He suddenly starts to feel a sympathy and respect for those he wanted to cruelly assault. This too is explained with proofs in the Risale-i Nur, so deeming that sufficient, we here cut it short.

Another important section of mankind are the sick, the oppressed, the disaster-stricken like us, the poor and the life prisoners; if belief in the hereafter does not come to their aid, death, of which they are continuously reminded by illness, unavenged wrongs, the arrogant treachery of the oppressor, from whom they cannot save their honour, the terrible despair of having lost their property or children in serious disasters, the distress at having to suffer the torments of prison for five or ten years because of a minute or two, or an hour or two, of pleasure - these surely make the world into a prison for such unfortunates, and life into agonizing torment. But if belief in the hereafter comes to their assistance, they suddenly breathe freely, and according to the degree of their belief, their distress, despair, anxiety, anger, and desire for vengeance abate, sometimes partially, sometimes entirely.

I can even say that if belief in the hereafter had not helped me and some of my brothers in this fearsome calamity of our being imprisoned for no reason, to stand it for one day would have been as grievous as death and driven us to resign from life. But endless thanks be to God, despite suffering the distress of my brothers, whom I love as much as my life, as well as my own, in addition to the weeping and sorrow of thousands of copies of the Risale-i Nur and my gilded, decorated, valuable books, which I love as

much as my eyes, and although I could never stand the slightest insult or to be dominated, I swear that the light and strength of belief in the hereafter afforded me the patience, endurance, solace, and steadfastness; indeed, it filled me with enthusiasm to gain greater reward in the profitable, instructive exertions of this ordeal, for as I said at the beginning of this treatise, I knew myself to be in a good medrese or school worthy of the title of Medrese-i Yusufiye (School of Joseph). If it were not for the occasional sickness and irritability arising from old age, I would have worked at my lessons even better and with greater ease of mind. However, we have strayed from the subject; I hope it will be forgiven.

Also, everyone's home is a small world for him, and even a small Paradise, If belief in the hereafter is not at the basis of the happiness of that home, the members of the family will suffer anguish and anxiety to the extent of their compassion, love, and attachment. Their paradise will either turn into Hell, or it will numb their minds with amusements and dissipation. Like the ostrich, who sees the hunter but can neither fly nor escape and sticks its head in the sand so as not to be seen, they plunge their heads into heedlessness so that death, decline, and separation do not spot them. They find a way out by temporarily blocking out their feelings in lunatic fashion. Because, for example, the mother trembles constantly at seeing her children, for whom she would sacrifice her soul, exposed to dangers. While the children all the time feel sorrow and fear at being unable to save their father and brother from unceasing calamities. Thus, in the upheavals of this worldly life, the supposedly happy life of the family loses its happiness in many respects, and the relations and closeness in this brief life do not result in true loyalty, heartfelt sincerity, disinterested service and love. Good character declines proportionately, and is even lost. Whereas if belief in the hereafter enters that home, it illuminates it completely and its members have sincere respect, love, and compassion for each other, are loyal and disregard each other's faults, in the measure not of their relations, closeness kindness, and love in this brief life, but of their continuation in the of the hereafter, in everlasting happiness, and their good character increases accordingly. The happiness of true humanity starts to unfold in that home. Since this too is elucidated with proofs in the Risale-i Nur, we cut this short here.

Towns are also households for their inhabitants. If belief in the hereafter does not govern among the members of that large family vices like malice, self-interest, false pretences, selfishness, artificiality, hypocrisy, bribery, and deception will dominate, displacing sincerity, cordiality, virtue, zeal, self-sacrifice, seeking God's pleasure and the reward of the hereafter,

which are bases of good conduct and morality. Anarchy and savagery will govern under the superficial order and humanity, poisoning the life of the town. The children will become troublemakers, the youth will take to drink, the strong will embark on oppression, and the elderly start to weep.

By analogy, the country is a household, and the fatherland, the home of the national family. If belief in the hereafter rules in these broad homes, true respect, earnest compassion, disinterested love, mutual assistance, honest service and social relations, unhypocritical charity, virtue, modest greatness, and excellence will all start to develop.

It says to the children: "Give up messing around; there is Paradise to be won!" and teaches them self-control through instruction in the Qur'an.

It says to the youth: "There is Hell-fire; give up your drunkenness!" and brings them to their senses.

It says to the oppressor: "There is severe torment; you will receive a blow!" and makes them bow to justice.

It says to the elderly: "Awaiting you is everlasting happiness in the hereafter far greater than all the happiness you have lost here, and immortal youth; try to win them!" It turns their tears into laughter.

It shows its favourable effects in every group, particular and universal, and illuminates them. Sociologists and moralists, who are concerned with the social life of mankind, should take special note. If the rest of the thousands of benefits and advantages of belief in the hereafter are compared with the five or six we have alluded to, it will be understood that it is only belief that is the means of happiness in this world and the next, and in the lives of both.

Deeming sufficient the powerful replies to the flimsy doubts concerning bodily resurrection described in the Twenty-Eighth Word of the Risale-i Nur and in others of its treatises, we merely make the following brief indication:

The most comprehensive mirror of the divine names lies in corporeality. The richest and most active centre of the divine aims in the creation of the universe lies in corporeality. The greatest variety of the multifarious dominical bounties lies in corporeality. The greatest multiplicity of the seeds of the supplications and thanks man offers to his Creator through the tongues of his needs again lies in corporeality. And the greatest diversity of the seeds of the non-physical and spirit worlds also lies in corporeality.

By analogy with this, since hundreds of universal truths are centred in corporeality, in order to multiply corporeality and make it manifest the above truths on the face of the earth, with awesome activity and speed, the All-Wise Creator clothes the successive caravans of beings in existence

and sends them to that exhibition. Then he discharges them and sends others in their place, constantly making the factory of the universe run. Weaving corporeal products, He makes the earth into a seedbed of the hereafter and Paradise. In fact, in order to gratify man's physical stomach, he listens to and accepts the prayer for immortality his stomach makes through the tongue of disposition, affording it the greatest importance, and in order to answer it, prepares in corporeality incalculable numbers of innumerable sorts and kinds of artistic foods and precious bounties, all affording different pleasures. This demonstrates self-evidently and without doubt that in the hereafter, the most numerous and various of the pleasures of Paradise will be corporeal, and that the bounties of the eternal abode of bliss, which everyone wants and is familiar with, will be corporeal.

Is it at all possible that the Most Compassionate All-Powerful One, the All-Knowing and Munificent One, who accepts the prayer offered through the tongue of disposition by the common stomach, and gratifying it with infinitely miraculous physical foods, always replies in fact, intentionally and without chance, would not accept the numerous, general prayers of man - who is the most important result of the universe, the vicegerent of the earth, and the Creator's choice being and worshipper - which he offers through the supreme stomach of humanity for universal, elevated corporeal pleasures in the eternal realm, which he always desires and with which he is familiar and which by nature he wants; that He should not respond in fact with bodily resurrection, and not gratify him eternally? Should He hear the buzz of the fly and not hear the crashing thunder? Should He equip a common soldier to perfection and ignore the army, giving it no importance? To do so would be impossible and absurd.

Yes, in accordance with the explicit statement of the verse:

There will be there all that the souls could desire, all that the eyes could delight in, {[*]:}

man will experience in Paradise in fitting form the physical pleasures with which he is most familiar and samples of Which he has tasted in this world. The rewards for the sincere thanks and particular worship each of his members, like the tongue, eye, and ear, offers, will be given through physical pleasures particular to those members. The Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition describes the physical pleasures so explicitly, it is impossible not to accept the apparent meaning and to make forced interpretations of them.

The fruits and results of belief in the hereafter, then, show that just as

the reality and needs of the stomach, one of the human members, are decisive evidence for the existence of food; so the reality and perfections of man, and his innate needs and desire for eternity, and his abilities and potentialities, which demand the above-mentioned consequences and benefits of belief in the hereafter, are certain evidence for the hereafter and Paradise and eternal physical pleasures, and they testify to their certain existence. Similarly, the reality of the universe's perfections and its meaningful creational signs, and all its truths connected with the above human truths are evidence for the certain existence of the realm of the hereafter, the resurrection of the dead, and the opening up of Heaven and Hell. This has been proved so brilliantly in the Risale-i Nur, and particularly in the Tenth, Twenty-Eighth (both Stations), and Twenty-Ninth Words, and the Ninth Ray, and the Supplication of the Third Ray, that they leave no room for doubt. Referring readers to them, we cut short this long story here.

The Qur'anic descriptions of Hell are also so clear and explicit they leave no need for further description. Nevertheless, referring to the Risale-i Nur detailed explanation of one or two points which dispel one or two feeble doubts, we shall set forth a very brief summary.

First Point: The thought of Hell and the fear it induces does not dispel the pleasures of the above fruits of belief, for boundless divine mercy says to the fearful man: Come to me! Enter the door of repentance, then the existence of Hell will not frighten you, but make known completely the pleasures of Paradise, and avenge you and all creatures whose rights have been transgressed and give you enjoyment. If you are so submerged in misguidance you cannot extricate yourself, the existence of Hell is still immeasurably better than eternal annihilation, and is also a sort of kindness for the disbelievers. For man, and even animals with young, receive pleasure at the pleasure and happiness of their relatives, offspring, and friends, and in one respect are happy.

Therefore, O atheist! Because of your misguidance, you will either tumble into non-being at your eternal execution, or you will enter Hell! As for non-existence, which is absolute evil, since it consists of the annihilation together with yourself of all your relatives, forbears and descendants, whom you love and at whose happiness you are to an extent happy, it causes pain to your spirit, heart, and inner nature severer than a thousand Hells. For if there were no Hell, there would be no Paradise. By reason of your disbelief, everything falls into non-existence. If you go to Hell and remain within the sphere of existence, those you love and your relatives will be happy in Paradise, or will be the recipients of compassion in some respects within the spheres of existence. This means you should support the

idea of Hell existing. To oppose it is to support non-existence, which is to support the elimination of innumerable friends' happiness.

Yes, Hell is an awesome, majestic, existent land which performs the wise and just function of being the place of incarceration of the Glorious Sovereign of the sphere of existence, which is pure good. It performs numerous other functions besides that of prison, and fulfils many purposes and carries out many duties connected with the eternal realm. It is also the awe-inspiring habitation of many living creatures like the Angels of Hell.

Second Point: There is no contradiction between the existence and ghastly torments of Hell, and infinite mercy, true justice, and wisdom with its balance and absence of waste. Indeed, mercy, justice, and wisdom require its existence. For to punish a tyrant who tramples the rights of a thousand innocents and to kill a savage animal who tears to pieces a hundred cowed animals is for the oppressed a thousandfold mercy within justice. While to pardon the tyrant and leave the savage beast free, is for hundreds of wretches a hundredfold pitilessness in place of that single act of misplaced mercy.

Similarly, the absolute disbeliever is one of those who will enter Hell. For through his disbelief and denial he both transgresses the rights of the divine names, and through denying the testimony of beings to those names, he transgresses their rights, and by denying the elevated duties of glorification of creatures before the divine names he violates their rights, and through denying their being mirrors to and responding with worship to the manifestation of divine dominicality, which is the purpose of the universe's creation and a reason for its existence and continuance, he transgresses their rights in a way. His disbelief is therefore a crime and wrong of such vast proportions it may not be forgiven, and deserves the threat of the verse,

God forgives not [the sin of] joining other gods with Him. {[*]:}

Not to cast him into Hell would comprise innumerable instances of mercilessness to innumerable claimants whose rights had been transgressed, in place of a single misplaced act of mercy. Just as those claimants demand the existence of Hell, so do divine dignity and majesty, and tremendousness and perfection most certainly demand it.

Yes, if a worthless rebel who assaults the people says to the proud ruler of the place: "You can't put me in prison!" affronting his dignity, if there is not a prison in the town, the ruler will have one made just to throw the

ill-mannered wretch into it. In just the same way, through his disbelief the absolute disbeliever affronts seriously the dignity of divine glory, and through his denial offends the splendour of His power, and through his aggression disturbs the perfection of His dominicality. Even if there were not many things necessitating the functions of Hell and many reasons for and instances of wisdom in its existence, it is the mark of such dignity and glory to create a Hell for disbelievers such as that, and to cast them into it.

Moreover, even the nature of disbelief makes known Hell. Yes, just as if the true nature of belief were to be embodied, it would with its pleasures take on the form of a private paradise, and in this respect gives secret news of Paradise; so, as is proved with evidences in the Risale-i Nur and is also alluded to in the previous Topics, disbelief, and especially absolute disbelief, and dissembling, and apostasy, are the cause of such dark and awful pains and spiritual torment that if they were to be embodied, they would become a private Hell for the apostate, and in this way tell of the greater Hell in concealed manner. The tiny truths in the seedbed of this world produce shoots in the hereafter. Thus, this poisonous seed indicates that particular tree of Zaqqum, saying: "I am its origin. For the unfortunate who bears me in his heart, my fruit is a private sample of that Zaqqum-tree."

Since disbelief is aggression against innumerable rights, it is certainly an infinite crime and deserves infinite punishment. Human justice considers a sentence of fifteen years imprisonment (nearly eight million minutes) to be justice for a one minute's murder, and conformable with general rights and interests. Therefore, since one instance of disbelief is the equivalent of a thousand murders, to suffer torments for nearly eight thousand million minutes for one minute's absolute disbelief is in conformity with that law of justice. A person who passes a year of his life in disbelief deserves punishment for close on two million million eight hundred eighty thousand million minutes, and manifests the meaning of the verse,

They will dwell therein for ever. {[*]:}

However...

The All-Wise Qur'an's miraculous descriptions of Heaven and Hell, and the proofs of their existence in the Risale-i Nur, a Qur'anic commentary which proceeds from the Qur'an, leave no need for others.

As is shown by numerous verses like,

They reflect on the creation of the heavens and earth, saying: "O our Sustainer! Indeed You have not created this in vain; glory be unto

You; and protect us from the torment of the Fire!" {[*]:} * O our Sustainer! Avert from us the torment of Hell; indeed its torment is a grievous affliction, * And evil it is as a resting-place and abode, {[*]:}

and indicated by foremost God's Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) and all the prophets and people of reality always repeating in their supplications, "Preserve us from Hell-fire! Deliver us from Hell-fire! Save us from Hell-fire!" which due to their revelations and illuminations for them was certain, the most momentous question facing mankind is to be saved from Hell. Hell is a vast, awesome, and supremely important cosmic truth, which some of the people of illumination and witnessing and those who investigate the realities have observed, and seeing some of its distillations and shadows, have cried out in terror: "Preserve us from the Fire"

Yes, the confrontation and interpenetration of good and evil in the universe, and pain and pleasure, light and darkness, heat and cold, beauty and ugliness, and guidance and misguidance represent a vast instance of wisdom. For if there were no evil, good would not be known. If there were no pain, pleasure would not be understood. Light without darkness would lack all importance. The degrees of heat are realized through cold. Through ugliness, a single instance of beauty becomes a thousand instances and thousands of varying degrees of beauty come into existence. If there were no Hell, many of the pleasures of Paradise would remain concealed. By analogy with these, in one respect everything may be known through its opposite and a single truth produce numerous shoots and become numerous truths. Since these intermingled beings pour from this transitory realm into the eternal realm, surely just as things like good, pleasure, light, beauty, and belief are poured into Paradise; so harmful matters like evil, pain, darkness, ugliness, and disbelief flow into Hell, and the floods of this continuously agitated universe are emptied into those two pools. Referring you to the Allusive Points at the end of the wondrous Twenty-Ninth Word, we curtail this discussion here.

My fellow students here in this School of Joseph! The easiest way to be saved from that dreadful, everlasting prison is to profit from our worldly prison, and besides being saved from the many sins we are bound to refrain from by repenting for our former sins and performing the obligatory worship, to make every hour of our prison life here the equivalent of a day's worship. This is the best opportunity we may have to be saved from that eternal prison and to win luminous Paradise. If we miss this opportunity,

our lives in the hereafter will weep the same as our lives here are weeping, and we shall receive the slap of the verse,

He has lost this world and the hereafter. {[*]:}

One fifth of mankind, three hundred million people, together declaring: «God is Most Great! God is Most Great! God is Most Great!»; and in relation to its size the globe broadcasting to its fellow planets in the skies the sacred words of «God is Most Great» and the more than twenty thousand pilgrims performing the Hajj, on 'Arafat and at the Festival, together declaring: «God is Most Great!» are all a response in the form of extensive, universal worship to the universal manifestation of divine dominicality through God's sublime titles of Sustainer of the Earth and Sustainer of All The Worlds, and are a sort of echo of the «God is Most Great!» spoken and commanded one thousand three hundred years ago by God's Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) and his Family and Companions. This I imagined and felt and was certain about.

Then I wondered if the sacred phrase has any connection with our matter. It suddenly occurred to me that foremost this phrase and many others of these marks of Islam like «There is no god but God,» "All praise be to God!," and «Glory be to God!» which bear the title of "enduring good works," recall particular and universal points about the matter we are discussing, and infer its realization.

For example, one aspect of the meaning of «God is Most Great!» is that divine power and knowledge are greater than everything; nothing at all can quit the bounds of God's knowledge, nor escape or be saved from the disposals of His power. He is greater than the things we fear most. This means He is greater than bringing about the resurrection of the dead, saving us from non-existence, and bestowing eternal happiness. He is greater than any strange or unimaginable thing, so that, as explicitly stated by the verse,

Your creation and your resurrection are but as a single soul, {[*]:}

the resurrection of mankind is as easy for His power as the creation of a single soul. It is in connection with this meaning that when faced by serious disasters or important undertakings, everyone says: «God is Most Great! God is Most Great!», making it a source of consolation, strength, and support for themselves.

As is shown in the Ninth Word, the above phrase and its two fellows, that is, «God is Most Great!,» and «Glory be to God!» and «All praise be to God!,» form the seeds and summaries of the ritual prayers - the index of all worship - and in order to corroborate the meaning of the prayers, are repeated in the tesbihat following them. They provide the powerful answers to the questions arising from the wonderment, pleasure, and awe man feels at the strange, beautiful, extraordinary things he sees in the universe, which cause him to offer thanks and to feel awe at their grandeur. Moreover, at the end of the Sixteenth Word it is described how at the festival a private soldier and a field marshal enter the king's presence together, whereas at other times the soldier has contact with the field marshal only through his commanding officer. Similarly, somewhat resembling the saints, a person making the Hajj begins to know God through His titles of Sustainer of the Earth and Sustainer of All the Worlds. With its repetition, it is again «God is Most Great» that answers all the feverish bewildered questions that overwhelm his spirit as the levels of grandeur unfold in his heart. Furthermore, at the end of the Thirteenth Flash, it is described how it is again «God is Most Great» that replies most effectively to Satan's cunning wiles, cutting them at the root, as well as answering succinctly but powerfully our question about the hereafter.

The phrase «All praise be to God» also reminds us of resurrection. It says to us: "I would have no meaning if there were no hereafter. For I say: to God is due all the praise and thanks that have been offered from pre-eternity to post-eternity, whoever they have been offered by and to whom, for the chief of all bounties and the only thing that makes bounty true bounty and saves all conscious creatures from the endless calamities of non-existence, is eternal happiness; it is only eternal happiness that can be equal to that universal meaning of mine."

Yes, every day all believers saying at least one hundred and fifty times after the obligatory prayers: «All praise be to God! All praise be to God!» as enjoined by the Shari'a, and its being the expression of praise and thanks which extend from pre-eternity to post-eternity, can only be the advance price and immediate fee for Paradise and eternal happiness. They offer thanks since bounties are not restricted to the fleeting bounties of this world, which are tainted by the pains of transience, and see them as the means to eternal bounties.

As for the sacred phrase, «Glory be to God!» with its meaning of declaring God free of all partner, fault, defect, tyranny, impotence, unkindness, need, and deception, and all faults opposed to His perfection, beauty, and glory, it recalls eternal happiness and the realm of the hereafter and

Paradise within it, which are the means to His glory and beauty and the majesty and perfection of His sovereignty; the phrase alludes to them and indicates theme For, as has been proved previously, if there was no eternal happiness, both His sovereignty, and His perfection, glory, beauty, and mercy would be stained by fault and defect.

Like these three sacred phrases, «In the Name of God» and «There is no god but God» and other blessed phrases are all seeds of the pillars of faith. Like the meat essences and sugar concentrates that have been discovered recently, they are summaries of both the pillars of belief and the truths of the Qur'an. The three mentioned above are both the seeds of the five daily prayers, and they are the seeds of the Qur'an, sparkling like brilliants at the beginning of a number of shining suras. So too are they the true sources and bases of the Risale-i Nur, many of whose inspirations first came while I was reciting the tesbihat following the prayers; they are the seeds of its truths. In respect of the sainthood and worship of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), these phrases are the invocations of the Muhammadan (PBUH) way which, following each of the five daily prayers, more than one hundred million believers repeat together in a vast circle of remembrance. Their beads in their hands, they declare «Glory be to God!» thirty-three times, «All praise be to God!» thirty-three times, and «God is Most Great!» thirty-three times.

You have surely understood now the great value of reciting thirty-three times after the five daily prayers, in such a splendid circle for the remembrance of God, each of those three blessed phrases, which as explained above, are the summaries and seeds of both the Qur'an, and belief, and the prayers. You have understood too the great reward they yield.

[The First Topic at the beginning of this treatise forms an excellent lesson about the obligatory five daily prayers. Then, although I did not think of it, involuntarily the end here became an important lesson about the tesbihat following the prayers.]

Praise be to God for His bounties.

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed You are All-Knowing, All-Wise. {[*]:}

The Ninth Topic

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

The Messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Sustainer. As do the men of faith. Each one [of them] believes in God, His angels, His Books, and His Messengers. "We make no distinction [they say] between one and another of His Messengers... " [to the end of the verse]. {[*]:}

An awesome question and a state of mind arising from the unfolding of a vast divine bounty were the causes of my explaining a universal, lengthy point about this comprehensive, elevated and sublime verse. It was like this: it occurred to my spirit: why does a person who denies a part of the truths of belief become a disbeliever, and one who does not accept a part of them cannot be a Muslim? Surely belief in God and the hereafter dispels the darkness like the sun. Also, why does a person who denies one of the pillars and truths of belief become an apostate, falling into disbelief, and by not accepting it, quit Islam? Whereas if he believes in the other pillars of belief, it should save him from absolute disbelief?

The Answer: Belief is a single truth, which, composed of its six pillars, cannot be divided up; it is a universal that cannot be separated into parts; it is a whole that cannot be broken up. For each of the pillars of belief proves the other pillars with the proofs that prove itself. They are all extremely powerful proofs of each other. In which case, an invalid idea that cannot shake all the pillars together with all their proofs, cannot in reality negate any one of the pillars, or even a single of their truths, and cannot deny them. Under the veil of non-acceptance one might only, by shutting his eyes, commit 'obstinate unbelief;' he would by degrees fall into absolute disbelief and lose his humanity, and go to Hell, both physically and mentally. In this station then, with God's grace, we shall explain this supreme matter in six points in the form of brief summaries, just as in The Fruits of Belief when proving the resurrection of the dead, the other pillars of belief's proofs of resurrection were propounded in the form of brief summaries.

Belief in God proves with its own proofs both the other pillars and belief in the hereafter, as is shown clearly in the Seventh Topic of The Fruits of Belief. Yes, is it at all possible and can reason accept that a pre-eternal everlasting sovereignty of dominicality, a post-eternal divine rule which administers the boundless universe as though it were a palace, a city, or a country; and makes it revolve in balanced and ordered fashion; and changes it with wisdom; and equips and directs all together particles, planets, flies, and stars as though each were a regular army, and continuously drills them within the spheres of command and will in a lofty manoeuvre; and employing them in duties makes them act, and causes them to roam and travel, and to parade worshipfully; - is it at all possible that that eternal, everlasting, enduring rule would not have an eternal seat, a permanent and everlasting place of manifestation; that is, the hereafter? God forbid! That means the sovereignty of Almighty God's dominicality and - as is described in the Seventh Topic - most of His names and the proofs of His necessary existence, require the hereafter and testify to it. So see and understand what powerful support this pole of belief has, and believe in it as though seeing it!

Also, just as there could be no belief in God without the hereafter; so - as is explained with brief indications in the Tenth Word - is it at all possible and could reason accept that God, the True Object of Worship, should create the universe in order to manifest His Godhead and fitness to be worshipped, as an embodied book every page of which expresses a book of meanings and every line of which states a page of meanings, and as an embodied Qur'an all the creational signs and words, and even points and letters of which are miracles, and as a magnificent mosque of His mercy the inside of which is decorated with numberless inscriptions and adornments, and in every corner of which are species of beings each preoccupied with the worship dictated by its nature - is it at all possible He should create it in this way and not send masters to teach the meanings of that vast book, and commentators to expound the verses of that Qur'an, and not appoint prayer-leaders to that huge mosque to lead all those worshipping in their myriad ways, and that He should not give decrees to those masters, commentators, and leaders of worship? God forbid, a hundred thousand times!

Also, is it at all possible and could reason accept that the Most Compassionate and Munificent Maker who in order to display to conscious beings the beauty of His mercy and the goodness of His compassion and the

perfection of His dominicality, and in order to encourage them to praise and thank Him, creates the universe as a banqueting hall, exhibition, and place of excursion in which are displayed infinite varieties of delicious bounties and priceless, wondrous arts, is it at all possible that He should not speak with those conscious beings at the banquet and not inform them by means of envoys of their duties of thanks for the bounties, and their duties of worship in the face of the manifestations of His mercy and His making Himself loved? God forbid, a hundred thousand times!

Also, is it at all possible that although the Maker loves His art and wants others to love it, and as is shown by His having taken into account the thousand pleasures of the mouth, wants it to be met with appreciation and approval, and has adorned the universe with priceless arts in a way that shows He wants through all His arts both to make Himself known, and loved, and to display a sort of His transcendent beauty, is it at all possible that He should not speak to men, the commanders of living beings in the universe through some of the most eminent of them, and send them as envoys, and that His fine arts should not be appreciated and the exquisite beauty of His names not be valued, and His making Himself known and loved be unreciprocated? God forbid, a hundred thousand times!

Also, is it at all possible or reasonable that the All-Knowing Speaker who answers clearly by act and deed through His infinite bounties and gifts, which indicate intention, choice, and will, at exactly the right time, all the supplications of living beings for their natural needs, and their desires and recourse through the tongue of disposition, that He should speak by deed and by state with the most insignificant living creature and remedy its woes and heed its troubles with His bounties, and know its needs and meet them, then not meet with the spiritual leaders of men, who are the choicest result of the universe, the vicegerents of the earth, and the commanders of most of the creatures on the earth? Although He speaks with them and with all living beings, should He not speak with men verbally and send them scriptures, books, and decrees? God forbid, innumerable times!

That is to say, with its certainty and innumerable proofs, belief in God proves belief in the prophets and sacred scriptures.

Also, is it at all possible or reasonable that in response to the One who makes Himself known and loved through all His creatures and seeks thanks by deed and state, Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) should have known and made known, loved and made loved that Glorious Artist through the Qur'anic reality, which brings the universe to tumult, and with his declarations of "Glory be to God!" "All praise be to God!" and "God is Most Great!" should have caused the globe to ring out so that it

could be heard by the heavens, and have brought the land and seas to ecstasy; and that in one thousand three hundred years he should have taken behind him numerically a fifth of mankind and qualitatively a half of it, and responded with extensive, universal worship to all the manifestations of the Creator's dominicality; that in the face of all the divine purposes he should have called out with the Qur'an's suras to the universe and the centuries, and taught them and proclaimed them; that he should have demonstrated the honour, value, and duties of man; and that he should have been confirmed through his thousand miracles - and that he should not have been the most choice creature, the most excellent of envoys, and the greatest prophet? Is this at all possible? God forbid! A hundred thousand times, God forbid!

That is to say, with all its proofs, the truth of "I testify that there is no god but God" proves the truth of "I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God."

Also, is it at all possible that the universe's Maker should cause creatures to speak with one another in myriad tongues, and that He should listen to their speech, and know it, and Himself not speak? God forbid!

Also, is it at all reasonable that He should not proclaim through a decree the divine purposes in the universe? That He should not send a book like the Qur'an which will solve its riddles and provide the true answers to the three awesome universally-asked questions: "Where do they come from?", "Where are they going?" , and "Why do they follow on caravan after caravan, stop by for a while, then pass on?" God forbid!

Also, is it at all possible that the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, which has illuminated thirteen centuries; every hour is uttered with complete veneration by a hundred million tongues; is inscribed through its sacredness in the hearts of millions of hafizes; in effect governs through its laws the greater part of mankind and trains, purifies, and instructs their souls, spirits, hearts, and minds; and forty aspects of whose miraculousness is proved in the Risale-i Nur and explained in the wondrous Nineteenth Letter, which demonstrates an aspect of its miraculousness towards each of forty classes of men, and as one of the thousand miracles of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) is proved decisively to be the true Word of God; - is it at all possible that it should not be the word and decree of the Pre-Eternal Speaker and Eternal Maker? God forbid! A hundred thousand times, God forbid!

That is to say, with all its proofs, belief in God proves that the Qur'an is the Word of God.

Also, is it all possible that the Glorious Monarch who continuously fills

and empties the earth with living beings and inhabits this world of ours with conscious creatures in order to make Himself known and worshipped and glorified, should leave the heavens and earth empty and vacant, and not create inhabitants suitable to them and settle them in those lofty palaces, that in His most extensive lands he should leave the sovereignty of His dominicality without servants, functionaries, envoys, and majesty; without lieutenants, supervisors, spectators, worshippers, and subjects? God forbid! To the numbers of the angels, God forbid!

Also, is it at all possible that the All-Wise Ruler, the All-Knowing and Compassionate One, should write the universe in the form of a book; inscribe the entire life-stories of trees in all their seeds, and write in the seeds of grasses and plants all their vital duties, and record precisely the lives of conscious beings in their memories, as tiny as mustard seeds, and preserve with innumerable photographs all the actions and events in all His dominions and all the eras of His sovereignty, and create mighty Heaven and Hell and the supreme scales of justice for the manifestation and realization of justice, wisdom and mercy, the basis of His dominicality, then not have written down the acts of men connected with the universe, nor have their deeds recorded so they may meet with reward or punishment, nor write their good and bad deeds on the tablets of divine determining? God forbid! To the number of letters inscribed on them.

That is to say, with its proofs, the truth of belief in God proves the truth of both belief in the angels, and belief in divine determining. The pillars of belief prove each other as clearly as the sun shows the daylight, and daylight shows the sun.

All the teachings and claims of foremost the Qur'an and all the revealed books and scriptures, and foremost Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) and all the prophets, are based on five or six points. They have continually striven to teach and prove those basic teachings. All the proofs and evidences which testify to their messengership and truthfulness look to those bases, corroborating their veracity. And those fundamentals are belief in God and belief in the hereafter and in the other pillars of belief. That is to say, it is not possible to separate the six pillars of belief. Each proves all of them, and requires them, and necessitates them. The six are a whole, a universal that cannot be broken in parts and whose division is outside the bounds of possibility. Like the Tuba-tree whose roots are in the heavens, each branch, fruit and leaf of that mighty tree relies on its universal, inexhaustible life. A person unable to deny that powerful life which is as clear

as the sun, cannot deny the life of a single of its leaves, attached to it. If he does deny it, the tree will refute him to the number of its branches, fruits, and leaves, and silence him. Belief, with its six pillars, is similar to this.

At the beginning of this Station, I intended to expound the six pillars of belief in thirty-six points, as six Points, each with fivن٢ub-sections. I also intended to reply to and explain the awesome question at the beginning. But certain unforeseen circumstances did not permit this. I reckoned the first Point was sufficient so for the intelligent no need remained for further explanation. It was understood perfectly that if a Muslim denies one of the pillars of belief, he falls into absolute disbelief. For in the face of the summary explanations of other religions, Islam expounds and elucidates them completely, and the pillars of belief are bound together. A Muslim who does not recognize Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) and does not assent to him, will not recognize God or His attributes, and will not know the hereafter. A Muslim's belief is based on such powerful, unshakeable and innumerable proofs that there is no excuse for denial; they quite simply compel the reason to accept them.

One time, I said "All praise be to God!" and searched for a bounty that would be equal to its infinitely broad meaning. Suddenly, the following sentence occurred to me:

"All praise be to God for belief in God, and for His unity, and necessary existence, and attributes, and names, to the number of the manifestations of His names from pre-eternity to post-eternity."

I looked and saw it was completely appropriate. As follows...

The Tenth Topic

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Due to my wretched situation this Topic is confused and graceless, but I was certain that beneath the confused wording was a most valuable sort of miraculousness, though unfortunately I was incapable of expressing it. But however dull the wording, since it concerns the Qur' an, it is both worship in the form of reflection and the shell of a sacred, elevated, shining jewel. The diamond in the hand should be looked at, not its torn clothes. Also, I wrote it in one or two days during Ramadan while extremely ill, wretched, and without food, of necessity very concisely and briefly, and including many truths and numerous proofs in a single sentence. Its deficiencies, then, should be overlooked! {(*):}

My True, Loyal Brothers! While reading the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition in Ramadan, whichever of the thirty-three verses I came to that in the First Ray describe the allusions to the Risale-i Nur, I saw that the page and story of the verse also look to the Risale-i Nur and its students to some extent - in so far as they have a share in the story. Particularly the Light Verses in Sura al-Nur, just as they point to the Risale-i Nur with ten fingers, so the Darkness Verses following it point directly at those opposing it; these afford a further share. Quite simply, I understood that this station rises from particularity to universality and that one part of that universality is the Risale-i Nur and its students.

Indeed, in regard to the breadth, exaltedness, and comprehensiveness that the Qur'an's address receives from firstly the extensive station of the universal dominicality of the Pre-Eternal Speaker, and from the extensive station of the one addressed in the name of mankind, indeed of all beings, and the most extensive station of all mankind's guidance in all the centuries,

and from the station of the most elevated comprehensive expositions of the divine laws concerning the regulation of this world and the hereafter, and the heavens and the earth, and pre-eternity and post-eternity, and the dominicality of the Creator of the universe, and of all beings, this address displays such an elevated miraculousness and comprehensiveness that both its apparent and simple level, which flatters the simple minds of ordinary people, the most numerous group the Qur'an addresses, and its highest level, partake of it.

Addressing every age and every class of people, in its stories and historical narratives it does not recount one part or one lesson from them, but points out elements of a universal principle as though it were newly revealed. Particularly its often repeated threats of «the wrongdoers, the wrongdoers,» and its severe expositions of calamities visited on the heavens and the earth, the punishment for their wrongdoing - with these and the retribution visited on the 'Ad and Thamud peoples and on Pharaoh - it draws attention to the unequalled wrongs of this century, and with the salvation of prophets like Abraham (PUH) and Moses (PUH) gives consolation to the oppressed believers.

Indeed, all past time and the departed ages and centuries, which in the view of heedlessness and misguidance form a fearsome place of non-existence and a grievous, ruined graveyard, the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition shows to every century and class of people in the form of living instructive pages, strange worlds, living and endowed with spirits, and existent realms of the Sustainer which are connected with us. With an elevated miraculousness, it sometimes conveys us to those times, and sometimes brings those times to us. Infusing with life the universe, which in the view of misguidance is lifeless, wretched, dead, and a limitless wasteland revolving amid separation and decease, with the same miraculousness this same Qur'an of Mighty Stature raises to life those dead beings, makes them converse with each other as officials charged with duties and hasten to the assistance of one another; it instructs mankind, the jinn, and the angels in true, luminous, and pleasurable wisdom.

For sure, then, it acquires sacred distinctions like there being ten merits in each of its letters, and sometimes a hundred, a thousand, or thousands of merits; and if all men and jinn were to gather together, their being unable to produce the like of it; and its speaking completely appropriately with all mankind and all beings; and its all the time being inscribed with eagerness in the hearts of millions of hafizes; and its not causing weariness through its frequent and numerous repetitions; and despite its many obscure passages and sentences, its being settled perfectly in the delicate and simple

heads of children; and its being agreeable like Zamzam water in the ears of the sick, the dying, and those distressed by a few words; and its gaining for its students happiness in this world and the next.

Its smoothness of style, which, observing exactly its interpreter's being unlettered, allows for no bombast, artificiality, or affectedness, and its descending directly from the heavens demonstrate a fine miraculousness. So too it shows a fine miraculousness in the grace and guidance of flattering the simple minds of ordinary people, the most numerous of the classes of men, through the condescension in its expression, and mostly opening the clearest and most evident pages like the heavens and earth, and teaching the wondrous miracles of power and meaningful lines of wisdom beneath those commonplace things.

By making known that it is also a book of prayer and summons, of invocation and divine unity, all of which require repetition, it demonstrates a sort of miraculousness by making understood in a single sentence and a single story through its agreeable repetitions numerous different meanings to numerous different classes of people. Similarly, by making known that minor and unimportant things in ordinary, commonplace events are within its compassionate view and the sphere of its will and regulation, it demonstrates a sort of miraculousness. For it attaches importance to even minor events involving the Companions of the Prophet when Islam was being established and the Shari'a codified, and those events being universal principles and general, and their producing most important fruits, as though they were seeds.

With regard to repetition being necessary due to the repetition of need, the repetition of certain verses which, as answers to numerous questions repeated over a period of twenty years, instructs numerous different levels of people is not a fault, indeed, to repeat certain sentences so powerful they produce thousands of results and a number of verses resulting from countless evidences, which describe an infinite, awesome, all-embracing revolution that, by destroying utterly the vast universe and changing its shape at Doomsday, will remove the world and found the mighty hereafter in its place, and will prove that all particulars and universals from atoms to the stars are in the hand and under the disposal of a single Being, and will show the divine wrath and dominical anger - on account of the result of the universe's creation - at mankind's wrongdoing, which brings to anger the earth and the heavens and the elements, to repeat such verses is not a fault, but most powerful miraculousness, and most elevated eloquence; an eloquence and lucid style corresponding exactly to the requirements of the subject.

For example, as is explained in the Fourteenth Flash of the Risale-i Nur, the sentence,

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

which constitutes a single verse and is repeated one hundred and fourteen times in the Qur'an, is a truth which binds the divine throne and the earth, and illuminates the cosmos, and for which everyone is in need all the time; if it were repeated millions of times, there would still be need for it. There is need and longing for it, not only every day like bread, but every moment like air and light.

And, for example, the verse,

And verily your Sustainer is Exalted in Might, Most Compassionate {[*]:}

which is repeated eight times in Sura Ta. Sin. Mime Repeating on account of the result of the universe's creation and in the name of universal dominicality, the salvation of the prophets whose stories are told in the sura, and the punishments of their peoples, in order to teach that that dominical dignity requires the torments of those wrongdoing peoples while divine compassion requires the prophets' salvation, is a concise, miraculous, and elevated miraculousness, for which, if repeated thousands of times, there would still be need and longing.

And, for example, the verse,

Then which of the favours of your Sustainer will you deny?, {[*]:}

which is repeated in Sura al-Rahman, and the verse,

Woe that Day to the rejecters of truth!, {[*]:}

in Sura al-Mursalat shout out threateningly to mankind and the jinn across the centuries and the heavens and the earth, the unbelief, ingratitude, and wrongdoing of those who bring the universe and the heavens and earth to anger, spoil the results of the world's creation, and deny and respond slightingly to the majesty of divine rule, and violate the rights of all creatures. If a general lesson thus concerned with thousands of truths and of the strength of thousands of matters were repeated thousands of times, there would still be need for it and its awe-inspiring conciseness and beautiful, miraculous eloquence.

And, for example, the repetition of the phrase,

Glory be unto You! There is no god but You: Mercy! Mercy! Save us, deliver us, preserve us, from Hell-fire!

in the supplication of the Prophet (PBUH) called al-Jaushan al-Kabir, which is a true and authentic supplication of the Qur'an and a sort of summary proceeding from it. It contains the greatest truth and the most important of the three supreme duties of creatures in the face of dominicality, the glorification and praise of God and declaring Him to be All-Holy, and the most awesome question facing man, his being saved from eternal misery, and worship, the most necessary result of human impotence. So if it is repeated thousands of times, it is still few.

Thus, repetition in the Qur'an looks to principles like these. Sometimes on one page, even, with regard to the requirements of the position and the need for explanation and the demands of eloquence, it expresses the truth of divine unity perhaps twenty times, explicitly and by implication. It does not cause boredom but affords it a power and eagerness. It has been explained in the Risale-i Nur with proofs how appropriate, fitting, and acceptable in the eyes of rhetoric are the repetitions in the Qur'an. The wisdom and meaning of the Meccan and Medinan Suras in the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition being different in regard to eloquence, miraculousness, and detail and brevity is as follows:

In Mecca, the first line of those it was addressing and those opposed to it were the idolators of the Quraysh and untaught tribesmen, so a powerful and elevated rhetorical style was necessary, and a miraculous, convincing, persuasive conciseness. And to establish it, repetition was required. Thus, in most of the Meccan suras, repeating and expressing the pillars of belief and degrees in the affirmation of divine unity with a most powerful, elevated, and miraculous conciseness, it proved so powerfully the first creation and the Resurrection, God and the hereafter, not only in a single page, verse, sentence or word but sometimes in a letter, through grammatical devices like altering the positions of the words or sentences, making a word indefinite and omissions and inclusions, that the geniuses and authorities of the science of rhetoric met it with wonder. The Risale-i Nur and the Twenty-Fifth Word and its Addenda in particular, which prove in summary forty aspects of the Qur'an's miraculousness, and the Qur'anic commentary Ishârât al-I'jâz from the Arabic Risale-i Nur, which in wondrous fashion proves the aspect of the Qur'an's miraculousness in its word-order, have demonstrated in fact that the Meccan suras and verses contain the highest styles of eloquence and the most elevated, concise miraculousness.

As for the Medinan suras and verses, since the front line of those they were addressing and who opposed them were the People of the Book, the Jews and Christians who affirmed God's existence, what was required by eloquence and guidance and for the discussion to correspond to the

situation, was not explanation of the high principles of religion and pillars of belief in a simple, clear, and detailed style, but the explanation of particular matters in the Shari'a and its injunctions, which were the cause of dispute, and the origins and causes of secondary matters and general laws. Thus, in the Medinan suras and verses, through explanations in a detailed, clear, simple style, in the matchless manner of exposition peculiar to the Qur'an, it mostly mentions within those particular secondary matters, a powerful and elevated summary - a conclusion and proof, a sentence related to divine unity, belief, or the hereafter which makes the particular matter of the Shari'a universal and ensures that it conforms to belief in God. It illuminates the passage and elevates it. The Risale-i Nur has proved the qualities and fine points and elevated eloquence in the summaries and conclusions, which express divine unity and the hereafter, and come mostly at the end of verses, like:

Indeed, God is powerful over all things. {[*]:} * Verily God has knowledge of all things. {[*]:} * And He is the Mighty, the Wise. {[*]:} * And He is Exalted in Might, Most Compassionate. {[*]:}

It explains in the Second Beam of the Second Light of the Twenty-Fifth Word, ten out of the many fine points of those summaries and conclusions, and proves to the obstinate that they contain a supreme miracle.

Yes, in expounding those secondary matters of the Shari'a and laws of social life, the Qur'an at once raises the views of those it addresses to elevated, universal points, and transforming a simple style into an elevated one and instruction in the Shari'a to instruction in divine unity, it shows it is both a book of law and commands and wisdom, and a book of the tenets of faith and belief, and of invocation and reflection and summons. And by teaching many of the aims of Qur'anic guidance in every passage it displays a brilliant and miraculous eloquence different to that of the Meccan suras.

Sometimes in two words, for example, in «Sustainer of All the Worlds» and «Your Sustainer,» through the phrase, «Your Sustainer,» it expresses divine oneness, and through, «Sustainer of All the Worlds,» divine unity. It expresses the divine oneness within divine unity. In a single sentence even it sees and situates a particle in the pupil of an eye, and with the same verse, the same hammer, it situates the sun in the sky, making it an eye to

the sky. For example, after the verse,

Who created the heavens and the earth,

following the verse,

He merges the night into the day, and He merges the day into the night,

it says:

And He has full knowledge of all that is in [men 's] hearts. {[*]:}

It says: "While creating the vast majestic earth and skies, He knows and regulates the sentiments of the heart." With an exposition of this sort, it transforms that simple, unlettered level and particular discussion which takes into account the minds of ordinary people, into an elevated, attractive, and general conversation for the purpose of guidance.

A Question: "Sometimes an important truth is not apparent to a superficial view, and in some positions the connection is not known when a concise phrase expounding divine unity or a universal principle is drawn out from a minor, ordinary matter, and it is imagined to be a fault. For example, to mention the extremely elevated principle:

And over all endued with knowledge, One Knowing {[*]:}

when Joseph (Peace be upon him) seized his brother through subterfuge, does not appear to be in keeping with eloquence. What is its meaning and purpose?"

The Answer: In most of the long and middle-length suras, each of which is a small Qur'an, and in many pages and passages, not only two or three aims are followed, for by its nature the Qur'an comprises many books and teachings such as being a book of invocation, belief, and reflection, and a book of law, wisdom, and guidance. Thus, since it describes the majestic manifestations of divine dominicality and its encompassing all things, as a sort of recitation of the mighty book of the universe it follows many aims in every discussion and sometimes on a single page. While instructing in knowledge of God, the degrees in divine unity, and the truths of belief, with an apparently weak connection it opens another subject of instruction in the following passage, joining powerful connections to the weak one. It corresponds perfectly to the discussion and raises the level of eloquence.

A Second Question: "What is the wisdom in and purpose of the Qur'an proving and drawing attention to the hereafter, divine unity, and man's

reward and punishment thousands of times, explicitly, implicitly, and allusively, and teaching them in every sura, on every page, and in every discussion?"

The Answer: It would not be excessive if the Qur'an were to draw attention to them thousands, or even millions of time, for it does so in order to teach man concerning the most momentous matters in the sphere of contingency, and the revolutions in the universe's history, and the most important, most significant, most awesome matters related to his duties, which - since he has undertaken the supreme trust and vicegerency of the earth will lead to either his perdition or everlasting happiness, and in order to remove his countless doubts and to smash his violent denials and obduracy, indeed, to make man affirm those awesome revolutions and submit to those most necessary essential matters which are as great as the revolutions. Indeed, those discussions in the Qur'an are read millions of times and they do not cause boredom, nor does the need cease.

For example, since the verse,

For those who believe and do righteous deeds are gardens beneath which rivers flow; they will dwell there forever, {[*]:}

announces the good news of eternal happiness and "saves from the eternal extinction of death, which every moment shows itself to wretched man, both himself, and his world, and all those he loves, and gains for them an everlasting sovereignty if it were repeated thousands of millions of times and given the importance of the universe, it still would not be excessive nor lose its value. Thus, in teaching innumerable, invaluable matters of this sort, and endeavouring to persuade, convince, and prove the occurrence of the awesome revolutions that will destroy the present form of the universe and transform it as though it were a house, the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition certainly draws attention to those matters thousands of times explicitly, implicitly, and allusively, and this is not excessive but renews the bounty which is like an essential need, the same as the essential needs of bread, medicine, air, and light are renewed.

And, for example, as is proved decisively in the Risale-i Nur, the wisdom in the Qur'an repeating severely, angrily, and forcefully threatening verses like,

For wrongdoers there is a grievous penalty. {[*]:} * But for those who reject [God] -for them will be the Fire of Hell. {[*]:}

is that man's unbelief is such a transgression against the rights of the universe and most creatures that it makes the heavens and earth furious and brings the elements to anger so that they deal blows on those wrongdoers with tempest and storm. According to the clear statement of the verses,

And when they are cast therein, they will hear the [terrible] drawing-in of its breath as it blazes forth * Almost bursting with fury, {[*]:}

Hell so rages at those iniquitous deniers that it almost disintegrates with fury. Thus, through the wisdom of showing, not from the point of view of man's smallness and insignificance before such a general crime and boundless aggression, but the importance of the rights of the Monarch of Universe's subjects before the seriousness of the wrongful crime and the awesomeness of the unjust aggression, and the boundless ugliness in the unbelief and iniquity of those deniers - in accordance with the wisdom of showing this, if repeating in His decree most wrathfully and severely the crime and its punishment, thousands, millions, or even thousands of millions of times, it still would not be excessive and a fault, because for a thousand years thousands of millions of people have read such verses every day with total eagerness and need, never becoming bored.

Indeed, every day, all the time, for everyone, one world disappears and the door of a new world is opened. Through repeating «There is no god but God» a thousand times out of need and with longing in order to illuminate each of those transitory worlds, it makes it a lamp for each of those changing veils. In the same way, the Qur'an repeats them in truly meaningful fashion and in accordance with the wisdom of appreciating by reading it the penalties of those crimes and the severe threats of the Pre-Eternal Monarch, which smash their obduracy, and of working to be saved from the rebellion of the soul, so as not to obscure in darkness those multiple, fleeting veils and renewed travelling universes, and not to make ugly their images which are reflected in the mirrors of their lives, and not to turn against them those guest views which may testify in favour of them. Even Satan would shudder at imagining to be out of place these powerful, severe, and repeated threats of the Qur'an. It shows that the torments of Hell are pure justice for the deniers who do not heed them.

And, for example, by repeating many times the stories of Moses (Peace be upon him), which contain many instances of wisdom and benefits, like the story of his staff, and of the other prophets (Peace be upon them), it demonstrates that the prophethoods of all the other prophets are a proof of

the veracity of the messengership of Muhammad (PBUH), and that one who does not deny all of them cannot in truth deny his messengership. For this purpose, and since everyone does not always have the time or capability to read the whole Qur' an, it repeats those stories as it does the main pillars of belief, so as to make all the long and middle-length suras each like a small Qur'an. To repeat them then is not excessive, it is required by eloquence and teaches that the question of Muhammad (PBUH) is the greatest question of mankind and the most crucial matter of the universe.

It has been demonstrated decisively in the Risale-i Nur with many proofs and indications that by giving the highest position to the person of Muhammad in the Qur'an and including him in four pillars of belief and holding «Muhammad is the Messenger of God» equal to the pillar of «There is no god but God,» shows that the messengership of Muhammad (PBUH) is the greatest truth in the universe, and the person of Muhammad is the most noble of creatures, and his universal collective personality and sacred rank, known as the Muhammadan Reality, is the most radiant Sun of the two worlds. His worthiness for this extraordinary position has also been proved. One of these proofs is this:

According to the principle of 'the cause is like the doer,' since the equivalent of all the good works performed by all his community at all times enters his book of good works; and the light which he brought illuminates all the truths of the cosmos; and he makes grateful not only the jinn, mankind, and animate beings, but also the universe and the heavens and earth; and since the supplications of plants, offered through the tongue of disposition, and the supplications of animals offered through the tongue of their innate need, and the righteous of his (PBUH) community every day bequeathe to him their benedictions and supplications for mercy and spiritual gains, whose millions - and together with spirit beings, even, millions of millions - of unrejectable supplications are accepted, as we actually witness with our eyes; and since each of the three hundred thousand letters of the Qur'an yield from a hundred to a thousand merits, only with regard to the recitation of the Qur'an by all his community, infinite numbers of lights enter the book of his deeds; - the One All-Knowing of the Unseen saw and knew that the Muhammadan (PBUH) Reality, which is his collective personality, would in the future be like a Tuba-tree of Paradise, and in accordance with that rank accorded him supreme importance in the Qur'an, and in His Decree showed the following of him and receiving of his intercession through adhering to his Illustrious Sunna to be one of the most important matters concerning man. And from time to time He took into consideration

his human personality and human state in his early life, which was a seed of the majestic Tuba-tree.

Thus, since the truths repeated in the Qur'an hold such value, all sound natures will testify that its repetitions represent a powerful and extensive miracle. Unless, that is to say, a person is afflicted with some sickness of the heart and malady of the conscience due to the plague of materialism, and is included under the rule,

A man denied the light of the sun due to his diseased eye,

His mouth denied the taste of water due to sickness.

TWO ADDITIONS, WHICH FORM A CONCLUSION TO THE TENTH TOPIC

The First: Twelve years ago I heard that a fearsome, obdurate atheist had devised a conspiracy against the Qur'an, which was to have it translated. He said: "The Qur'an should be translated so that everyone can know just what it is." That is, he hatched a dire plan so that everyone would see its unnecessary repetitions and its translation would be read in its place. However, the irrefutable proofs of the Risale-i Nur prove decisively that it is impossible to do a true translation of the Qur'an, and other languages cannot preserve its qualities and fine points in place of the grammatical language of Arabic. Man's trite and partial translations cannot be substituted for the miraculous and comprehensive words of the Qur'an, every letter of which yields from ten to a thousand merits; they may not be read in its place in mosques. Spreading everywhere, the Risale-i Nur foiled this fearsome plan. I surmise that it was due to the idiotic and lunatic attempts of dissemblers to extinguish the Sun of the Qur'an on account of Satan by puffing at it like silly children having taken lessons from that atheist, that I was inspired to write this Tenth Matter while under great constraint and in a most distressing situation. But I do not know the reality of the situation since I have been unable to meet with others.

Second Addition: After our release from Denizli Prison, I was staying on the top floor of the famous Şehir Hotel. The subtle and graceful dancing of the leaves, branches, and trunks of the many poplar trees in the fine gardens opposite me at the touching of the breeze, each with a rapturous and ecstatic motion like a circle of dervishes, pained my heart, sorrowful and melancholy at being parted from my brothers and remaining alone. Suddenly the seasons of autumn and winter came to mind and a heedlessness

overcame me. I so pitied those graceful poplars and living creatures swaying with perfect joyousness that my eyes filled with tears. With this reminder of the separations and non-being beneath the ornamented veil of the universe, grief at a world-full of deaths and separations pressed down on me. Then suddenly, the Light the Muhammadan (PBUH) Reality had brought came to my assistance and transformed my grief and sorrow into joy. Indeed, I am eternally grateful to the Muhammadan Being (PBUH) for the assistance and consolation which alleviated my situation at that time, only a single instance of the boundless effulgence of that Light for me, as for all believers and everyone. It was like this:

By showing those blessed and delicate creatures to be without function or purpose, and their motion to be not out of joy but as though trembling on the brink of non-existence and separation and tumbling into nothingness, that heedless view so touched the feelings in me that desire immortality, love beautiful things, and feel compassion for fellow-creatures and life that it transformed the world into a sort of hell and my mind into an instrument of torture. Then, just at that point, the Light Muhammad (Peace and blessings by upon him) had brought as a gift for mankind raised the veil; it showed in place of extinction, non-being, nothingness, purposeless, futility, and separations, meanings and instances of wisdom to the number of the leaves of the poplars, and as is proved in the Risale-i Nur, results and duties which may be divided into three sorts:

The First Sort looks to the All-Glorious Maker's names. For example, if a master craftsman makes a wondrous machine, everyone applauds him, saying: "What wonders God has willed! Blessed be God!" Similarly, the machine congratulates the craftsman through the tongue of its disposition by displaying perfectly the results intended from it. All living beings and all things are such machines; they applaud their Craftsman through their glorifications.

The Second Sort of the Instances of Wisdom looks to the views of living creatures and conscious beings. Beings each become an agreeable object of study, a book of knowledge. When they depart from the Manifest World and withdraw to the World of the Unseen, they leave their meanings in the sphere of existence in the minds of conscious beings and their forms in their memories, and on the tablets in the World of Similitudes, and in the notebooks of the World of the Unseen. That is, they leave behind an apparent existence, but gain many existences pertaining to meaning, the Unseen, and knowledge. Yes, since God exists and His knowledge encompasses everything, from the point of view of reality in the world of believers there is surely no non-being, extinction, nothingness, annihilation, and transitoriness,

while the unbelievers' world is full of non-existence, separation, nothingness, and transience. This is taught by the saying, which is on every- one's lips, "For those for whom God exists, everything exists; and for those for whom He does not exist, nothing exists; for them there is nothing."

In Short: Just as at the time of death belief saves man from eternal extinction, so it saves everyone's private world from the darknesses of annihilation and nothingness. Unbelief, however, and especially if it is absolute unbelief, sends man and his private world to non-existence with death, and casts him into infernal darknesses. It transforms the pleasures of life into bitter poisons. Let the ears ring of those who prefer the life of this world to that of the hereafter! Let them come and find a solution for this, or else let them enter belief and be saved from these dreadful losses!

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise. {[*]:}

{[*]:}

My Dear and Esteemed Master,

Endless thanks be to Almighty God that we have received A Flower of Emirdağ, the Tenth Topic of the Fruits of Denizli, which has alleviated our grief at our two months' separation and our distress at having been unable to communicate, and enumerates the virtues of the repetition of the Qur'an's glorious, august, merciful and compassionate verses, which infuse our hearts with fresh life and breathe into our spirits a fresh breeze, and explains the necessity, significance, and reason for the repetitions, and is also a brilliant defence of the Risale-i Nur. In truth, the more we receive the scent of this flower, which is so deserving of praise and appreciation, the more it intensifies the yearning of our spirits for it. Just as how in the face of the difficulties of our nine months' imprisonment, the nine Topics of The Fruits of Belief showed their beauty by contributing to our release, so by pointing out the wonders of the concise miraculousness of the Qur'an, the Tenth Topic, their Flower, again exhibit their beauty.

Yes, my beloved Master, like the superb, delicate beauty of the rose makes the beholder forget the thorns on its stem, so this luminous Flower has made us forget the distress of those nine months; it has made it as nothing. The manner of its writing does not cloy those studying it; it astounds the mind. Of the many beauties it contains, by showing fully the value of the repetitions in the face of the treachery of 'simplifying' the Qur'an in people's eyes by translating it, it has set forth its universal loftiness. The Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition being proved to be fresh as though newly revealed, its followers adhering strongly to it every century and their perfect obedience to its commands and prohibitions; and its severe, awesome, and repeated threats to the oppressor in every century, and its compassionate and merciful regard for the oppressed; and among its threats which look to this century, the tyrants being made to cry out continuously for the last six or seven years at the heavenly hell which recalls a sample of deepest space; and the Risale-i Nur students being at the head of the oppressed this century; and their being delivered from their plights, personal and general,

truly like the prophets of old found deliverance; and its pointing out the blows dealt to the irreligious, its opponents, and hellish torments; and the Flower being concluded with two fine and subtle addenda; all these prompted this wanting student of yours, Husrev, to joyfully offer endless thanks. As I have mentioned to my dear Master, I have never before in my life experienced the joy and happiness this beautiful Flower gives me, as I have told my brothers on numerous occasions. Almighty God placed on their feeble shoulders a great and heavy load. May God be pleased with our beloved Master and may He make them smile eternally by lightening their load. Amen!

Yes, my dear Master! We are forever pleased at God, the Qur'an, His Beloved, the Risale-i Nur, and at you, our beloved Master, who is herald of the Qur'an. We in no way regret our following you. We harbour absolutely no intention in our hearts to do harm; we seek only God and His pleasure. As time passes, we increase our longing to meet God within the bounds of His pleasure. To refer to Almighty God without exception those who have done us evil and to forgive them, and to do good to everyone including those tyrants is a mark of Islam established in the hearts of the Risale-i Nur students. We offer endless thanks to God, Who proclaims this without our asking.

The Eleventh Topic

[Hundreds of the innumerable fruits, particular and universal, of the sacred tree of belief, one of which is Paradise, another, eternal happiness, and another, the vision of God, have been set forth with proofs and explanations in the Risale-i Nur. Referring further explanation of them to Siracü'n-Nur (The Illuminating Lamp), therefore, here shall be set out a few examples of its particular and special fruits, rather than its universal pillars.]

One of these: One day while reciting in a supplication: "O My Sustainer! In veneration of Gabriel, Michael, Israfil, and Azra'il, and through their intercession, preserve me from the evil of men and jinn," I experienced an exceedingly pleasant and consoling state of mind on mentioning the name of Azra'il, which generally makes people tremble in fear. "All praise be to God!" I exlaimed, and began to feel earnest love for him. I shall point out extremely briefly only one particular fruit of the many of this particular aspect of the pillar of belief in the angels.

Another: Every person's most precious possession, over which he most trembles, is his spirit, I felt sure that to surrender it to a strong and trustworthy hand thereby preserving it from being lost and annihilated and from aimlessness, afforded a profound joy. Then the angels who record men's actions came to mind; I saw that they yielded numerous sweet fruits like the previous one.

Another: Everyone tries earnestly to preserve through writing, poetry, or even the cinema, a worthwhile saying or deed in order to immortalize it. They are even more anxious to preserve deeds if they produce everlasting fruits in Paradise. The fact that the recording angels hover over men's shoulders so as to be able to display their deeds in eternal vistas and continually gain their reward, seemed so agreeable to me, I cannot describe it.

Then, at a time the worldly had isolated me from everything to do with social life and kept me from all my books, friends, assistants, and the things that console me, and I was being crushed by the desolation of exile and my empty world was tumbling down all around me, one of the many fruits of belief in the angels came to my assistance. It cheered up the universe and my world, filling it with angels and spirit beings, and making my

world laugh for joy. {[*]:} It showed too that the worlds of the people of misguidance weep in desolation, emptiness, and darkness. While enjoying the pleasures of this fruit, my imagination plucked one of the numerous fruits of belief in the prophets, which resembles it, and tasted it. Then suddenly my belief that all the prophets of the past are as though living, and my assent to them, lit up those times and made my belief universal and expanded it, and set thousands of signatures on their teachings concerning belief in the Prophet of the End of Time (PBUH), silencing the Satans.

Then a question occurred to me the decisive answer to which is included in the Thirteenth Flash, about the wisdom in seeking refuge with God from Satan. It in effect asked me: "The people of guidance are assisted and strengthened by innumerable sweet fruits and benefits like these, the fine results of good deeds, and the Most Merciful of the Merciful's compassionate succour and assistance, so why are they frequently defeated by the people of misguidance and sometimes twenty or a hundred of them are routed?" While pondering over this, I recalled the mobilizations and angels in the Qur'an in the face of Satan's feeble machinations, and Almighty God's sending assistance to the people of belief. The Risale-i Nur has explained the purpose and wisdom of this with decisive proofs, so here we shall allude to it only briefly.

Yes, sometimes if a single vandal tries to set fire to a palace that a hundred men have made, the palace can remain standing only by a hundred men protecting it and having recourse to the government and the king. For its existence is possible only through the existence of all the necessary conditions and causes, but its non-existence and destruction may occur through the non-existence of a single condition. In the same way that the palace may be burnt to the ground by a layabout with a single match, so satans from among jinn and men cause vast destruction and terrible non-physical conflagrations with some small actions. Yes, the basis and origin of all bad, evils, and sins is non-existence, it is destruction. The non-existence and destruction are concealed beneath apparent existence. Thus, relying on this point, satans from among jinn and men and evil beings withstand an infinite force with an extremely weak force, driving the people of truth and reality to continually seek refuge at the divine court and to flee to it. The Qur'an therefore mobilizes great forces for their protection. It gives for their use ninety-nine divine names and commands them sternly to withstand those enemies.

The tip of a vast truth and basis of an awesome matter became apparent

from this answer. It was this: just as Paradise yields the crops of all the worlds of existence and produces the eternal shoots of the seeds grown in this world; so in order to display the grievous consequences of the innumerable terrible worlds of non-existence and nothingness, Hell scorches up the products of that non-existence, and among its other functions, that terrible factory cleanses the universe of existence of the filth of the world of non-existence. For now we shall not open the door of this awesome matter; God willing, it shall be elucidated later.

Another particular matter and example of the fruit of belief in the angels concerns the questioning angels, Munkar and Nakir; {[*]:} it is this: in my imagination I entered my grave, telling myself: "I am bound to enter here, the same as everyone else." While taking fright at the bleakness and despair of its lonely, dark, cold, narrow solitary confinement, two blessed friends resembling Munkar and Nakir appeared. They began to debate with me. My heart and grave were broadened, illumined, and warmed; windows were opened up onto the world of spirits. I felt truly happy at that situation which I saw in the imagination then, and will see in reality in the future, and I offered thanks.

A medrese student who was studying Arabic grammar died and in replying to Munkar and Nakir's question of "Who is your Sustainer?" , thought he was in his own medrese and said: "'Who' is the subject, 'your Sustainer' is its predicate; ask me something difficult; that's easy." It made both the angels and the spirits who were present, and a diviner of graves who witnessed the incident, laugh, and brought a smile to divine mercy. The late Hafiz Ali, a martyr hero of the Risale-i Nur, died in prison while writing out and enthusiastically studying The Fruits of Belief and was delivered from torment. He replied in the grave to the questioning angels with the truths of The Fruits of Belief, as he had in court here. And I and the Risale-i Nur students shall reply to those questions with the brilliant and powerful proofs of the Risale-i Nur, in the future in fact and now in meaning, and will cause the angels to confirm them and appreciate them and congratulate them; God willing.

Another small example of belief in the angels leading to worldly happiness is this: an innocent child who had learnt his lesson from the catechism (Ilm-i Hal), said to another child who was wailing at the death of his little brother: "Don't cry, be thankful, because your brother has gone to heaven and is with the angels. He is enjoying himself there and having a better

time than us. He is flying around like the angels and taking a look at everything." He turned his friend's woeful tears into happy smiles.

Exactly like that weeping child, in the grim situation of this sorrowful winter I received news of two deaths. One was my nephew, the late Fuad, who had both come first in advanced schools, and had published the truths of the Risale-i Nur. The second was my late sister, Hanım, a scholar who went on the Hajj and died while circumambulating the Ka'ba. The deaths of these two relatives made me weep like that of the late Abdurrahman, which is described in the Treatise for the Elderly. Then, through the light of belief I saw in my heart that the innocent Fuad and righteous Hanım had as companions angels and houris in place of humans and had been saved from the perils and sins of this world. Feeling overwhelming joy instead of that searing sorrow, I congratulated both them and Fuad's father, Abdülmecid, and myself, and I offered thanks to the Most Merciful of the Merciful. This has been included here as a prayer for mercy for the two departed.

All the comparisons and allegories in the Risale-i Nur describe the fruits of belief that have as their consequences happiness in this world and the next. By virtue of the happiness and pleasures of life they yield in this world, those universal and extensive fruits intimate that they will gain for man everlasting happiness, indeed, that they will produce shoots and develop in that way. Five of those numerous universal fruits have been written at the end of the Thirty-First Word as fruits of the Ascension, and five are included as examples in the Fifth Branch of the Twenty-Fourth Word.

We said at the beginning that each of the pillars of faith have numerous different fruits, even innumerable fruits, and that similarly, a single fruit of the totality of the fruits is vast Paradise, and another is eternal happiness, while another and perhaps the sweetest is the vision of God. Also there is a good description of how the fruits of belief yield happiness in both worlds, this world and the hereafter, in the comparison at the end of the Thirty- Second Word.

Evidence that belief in divine determining yields precious fruits in this world is the fact that the saying "those who believe in divine determining are saved from unhappiness" is widely known as a proverb. Two universal fruits of belief in divine determining are explained in the fine comparison at the end of the Treatise on Divine Determining, which is about two men who enter the lovely garden of a palace, and I myself in my own life have experienced thousands of times and understood that to not believe in divine determining destroys the happiness of this worldly life. But whenever, in

grievous misfortunes, I looked from the point of view of divine determining I saw that they were greatly alleviated, and I would be astonished at how those who do not believe it can continue to live.

One of the universal fruits of the pillar of belief in the angels is alluded to in the Second Station of the Twenty-Second Word like this: when supplicating Almighty God, Azra'il (PUH) said:

"Your servants will be vexed at me and complain about me when I carry out my duty of seizing the spirits of the dying."

He was told in reply: "I shall make illnesses and calamities a veil to your duties, so my servants' complaints will be directed at them and not at you."

Azra'il's duty is a veil in exactly the same way that the above are veils so that unjustified complaints are not directed at Almighty God. For not everyone can see the aspects of wisdom, mercy, beauty, and advantage in death; they see its apparent face and start to object and complain. Azra'il was made a veil so that these unjustified complaints are not directed at the Absolutely Compassionate One. In exactly the same way, the function of all the angels, indeed of all apparent causes, is to be veils to the dignity of dominicality so that the dignity and holiness of divine power and comprehensiveness of divine mercy are preserved in things the beauty of which is not apparent and the wisdom of which is not understood; and they are not the target of objections, and so that in the superficial view divine power does not appear to be in contact with base, trivial, or cruel things. For the Risale-i Nur has proved definitively with innumerable evidences that the stamps of divine unity on all things show clearly that no cause has an actual effect or the ability to create. Creation and the giving of existence are particular to Him. Causes are merely a veil. Conscious beings like angels can do nothing other than a sort of voluntary duty in accordance with their natures and active worship which is called 'acquisition,' and is insignificant and not creative.

Yes, dignity and grandeur demand that in the view of the mind causes are veils to the hand of power, while unity and oneness demand that causes abstain from having any real effect.

Just as angels and the apparent causes employed in good works pertaining to existence are all means of exonerating dominical power of fault and tyranny in things the beauties of which are not known or seen, and of hallowing it and preserving it from the ascription of fault; so too, satans from among jinn and men and harmful matters being employed in evil matters pertaining to non-existence is to hallow and glorify God by saving divine power from being the target of complaint and wrongful accusations of

cruelty. It is to exonerate Him and declare Him free of all the faults in the universe. For all faults arise from non-existence, or lack of ability, or destruction, or the failure to perform duties, which are all non-existence and acts which are not existent and pertain to non-existence. The faults are ascribed to these satanic and evil veils, the objections and complaints are deservedly directed at them, and they are means of Almighty God being pronounced free of all defect.

In any event, strength or power are not necessary for evil destructive works pertaining to non-existence; sometimes extensive non-existence or destruction may occur through some petty act or insignificant power, or even the failure to perform a duty. It is supposed those doers of evil possess power, but they have no effect other than non-existence and no power other minor 'acquisition.' But since the evils arise from non-existence, the doers of evil are the true agents. If they are intelligent beings, they deservedly pay the penalty. That is to say, in evils the perpetrators are the true doers, but since good deeds and acts are existent, those who do them are not the true doers and do not have an actual effect. They are recipients rather, receiving the divine effulgence; the All-Wise Qur'an states that their reward too is purely a divine favour, and says:

Whatever good happens to you is from God but whatever evil befalls you is from yourself. {[*]:}

In Short: While the universes of existence and the innumerable worlds of non-existence clash, producing fruits like Paradise and Hell; and all the worlds of existence declare: "All praise be to God! All praise be to God!" and all the worlds of non-existence declare: "Glory be to God! Glory be to God!"; and while through an all-encompassing law of contest angels and satans, and instances of good and instances of evil as far as the inspirations and satanic whisperings of the heart, all struggle against each other; a fruit of belief in the angels is suddenly manifested, solving the matter and illuminating the universe. Showing us one of the lights of the verse

God is the Light of the heavens and the earth, {[*]:}

it shows us just how sweet is this fruit.

The Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Ninth Word - the latter of which demonstrates the marvels of the alifs {[*]:} - point out a second universal fruit, and

prove in brilliant fashion the existence and functions of the angels. Yes, present in everything in the universe, particular and universal, in every realm of being, is a compassionate, splendid dominicality which makes itself known and loved. Most certainly it is necessary to respond to that splendour, that compassion, that making known and loved, with thanks and comprehensive, conscious worship, declaring them to be free of all fault. And it is only countless angels that can perform the duty on behalf of unconscious inanimate creatures and the great elements, and can represent the wise, majestic activity of the sovereignty of that dominicality everywhere on the earth, on the Pleiades, in the foundations of the earth, and out- side it.

Through this fruit, for example, the creation of the earth and its natural duties, which the soulless laws of philosophy show to be dark and desolate, are placed in luminous familiar fashion on the shoulders of, that is, under the supervision of, two angels called Thawr (the Bull) and Hut (the Fish). {[*]:} And a truth, a substance of the hereafter called sakhra is sent as an everlasting foundation stone of the transitory earth, that is, as a sign that in the future part of it will be transformed into eternal Paradise, and is made a point of support for the angels Thawr and Hut. This was narrated by the old prophets of the Children of Israel and also by Ibn 'Abbas. Unfortunately, in the course of time, this sacred meaning and allegory were taken literally by the ordinary people and acquired a form outside the bounds of reason. Since the angels travel through earth and rock and the centre of the earth the same as they do through the air, they, and the earth, surely have no need of physical rocks and a fish and ox to support them.

Also for example, since the globe utters divine glorifications to the number of its realms of beings, with tongues to the number of the members of those species, and to the parts, leaves, and fruits of those members, surely there will be an appointed angel with forty thousand heads and forty thousand tongues in each head, each of which will utter forty thousand divine glorifications, which will know that splendid, unconscious, innate worship, represent it consciously, and offer it to the divine court, as the Bringer of Sure News (PBUH) informed us absolutely correctly.

Also, the existence and extraordinary nature of angels like Gabriel (Peace be upon him), who conveys and announces the dominical relations with man, the most important result of the universe's creation; and Israfil (Peace be upon him) and Azra'il (Peace be upon him), who merely represent the Creator's awesome actions in the world of animate beings, which

are the raising to life and giving of life, and the release from duties with death, and they supervise them in worshipful manner; and Michael (Peace be upon him) who besides supervising the bounties of the Most Merciful in food, which is the most extensive and most pleasurable mercy in the sphere of life, consciously represents unconscious thanks - the existence and extraordinary nature of angels like these, and the immortality of their spirits, are necessitated by the sovereignty and splendour of dominicality. Their existence and that of their own species is as certain and free of doubt as the existence of the sovereignty and splendour that are to be seen in the universe as clearly as the sun. Comparisons may be made with this for other matters concerning the angels.

Yes, the All-Powerful One of Glory and Beauty created four hundred thousand species of living beings on the earth, and created beings with spirits in great abundance, even out of common and rotting substances, filling everywhere with them. In the face of the miracles of His art He causes them to declare: "What wonders God has willed! How great are God's blessings! Glory be to God!" and before the gifts of His mercy: "All praise be to God! All thanks be to God! God is Most Great!" Most certainly and without doubt therefore He created inhabitants and spirit beings suitable for the vast heavens, who never rebel and perform constant worship. Not leaving the heavens empty, He populated them with these beings. He created too countless different sorts of angels, far greater in number than the animal species. Some in tiny form, mount raindrops and snowflakes and applaud the divine art and mercy in their own tongues. Others mount the travelling stars and on their journeys through space, with their divine exaltations and pronouncements of divine unity, proclaim to the world their worship before the grandeur, splendour and dignity of dominicality.

The agreement of all the revealed scriptures and religions since the time of Adam concerning the existence and worship of the angels, and the numerous unanimous reports in all ages of conversations and meetings of men with the angels, prove that their existence is as certain as the existence of the people of America, whom we have never seen, and that they are concerned with us.

Now come and taste through the light of belief this second universal fruit; see how it fills the universe from end to end, making it beautiful and transforming it into a vast mosque and place of worship. In the face of science and philosophy showing it to be cold, lifeless, dark, and desolate, it shows it to be full of life and light, conscious, familiar, and agreeable, allowing the people of belief to experience a manifestation of the pleasures of immortal life according to their degree, while still in this world.

Conclusion: Since through the mysteries of divine unity and oneness, the same power, the same names, the same wisdom, and the same art are found in every part of the universe, the Creator's unity, disposal, giving of existence, dominicality, creativity, and sacredness are proclaimed through the tongues of disposition of all creatures, particular and universal. So too He created the angels, and caused the glorifications which all creatures offer unconsciously through the tongues of their beings to be offered consciously through the worshipful tongues of the angels. None of the angels' actions are in any respect contrary to the divine command. Apart from pure worship, they do nothing; they bring nothing into being, can intervene in nothing unless commanded, and cannot intercede even without permission. They manifest to the utmost the meaning of:

They are [but] servants raised to honour. * They speak not before He speaks, and they act [in all things] by His command. {[*]:}

Conclusion

[This forms a brief indication to a lengthy truth concerning a subtle point of miraculousness of great importance which was imparted to me after sunset and demonstrates clearly miraculous predictions of Sura al-Falaq concerning the Unseen.]

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

Say: I seek refuge with the Sustainer of the rising dawn * From the evil of aught that He has created, * And from the evil of the black darkness whenever it descends, * And from the evil of blowers on knots, * And from the evil of the envious when he envies. {[*]:}

Commanding God's Messenger (PBUH) and his community: "Protect yourselves from the evil beings and satans among jinn and men who strive in the universe on account of the worlds of nonbeing," this mighty, wondrous verse looks to all ages, and with its allusive meaning looks more to our strange age, even explicitly, and calls on the Qur'an's servants to seek refuge with God. This miraculous prediction about the Unseen is here explained briefly in five signs, as follows:

All the verses of this sura have numerous meanings. Only in respect of their allusive meaning, their repeating the word "evil" four times in five sentences is certainly guidance from the Unseen in a way befitting the Qur'an's miraculousness; as is with a powerful relation and in four ways their pointing the finger with the same date to the four unparalleled, ghastly, stormy evils, material and immaterial, of this age, with its revolutions and clashes, and their implicitly giving the command: "Withdraw from these!"

For example, the sentence "Say: I seek refuge with the Sustainer of the dawn" coincides with the date 1352 or 1354 according to abjad and jafr reckoning, alluding to the Second World War, which was brewing up then erupted due to the prevalent ambition and greed of mankind and the First War, and in effect saying to the community of Muhammad (PBUH): "Do not enter this war, but seek refuge with your Sustainer." With another of its allusive meanings, as a special favour to the Risale-i Nur students, who are servants of the Qur'an, it hints to them that they were to be saved around the same date from Eskişehir Prison and an awesome evil, and that the

plans to eliminate them would come to nothing. It was as though commanding them symbolically to seek refuge with God.

And for example, the sentence «From the evil of aught that He has created» makes 1361 - the doubled râ is not counted - and points the finger through both the Rumi and Hijri dates at the cruel, tyrannical destruction of this unmatched war. Coinciding too with the Risale-i Nur students, who work with all their strength to serve the Qur'an, being delivered from an extensive plan to eliminate them and from a grievous calamity and Denizli Prison, it looks with an allusive meaning to them too. With a concealed sign it says: "Protect yourselves from the evil of creatures."

And for example, making 1328 if the doubled letters are not counted and 1358 if the doubled lâm is counted, the sentence «the blowers on knots» coincides with the dates when due their ambition and greed the Europeans tyrants who caused the two World Wars, instigated a change of Sultan and the Balkan and Italian Wars with the idea of spoiling the consequences of the Constitutional Revolution, which favoured the Qur'an; then with the outbreak of the First World War, by the political diplomats blowing their evils, material and immaterial and their sorcery and poison into everyone's heads through the tongue of the radio and their inculcating their covert plans into the heart of human destiny, they prepared the evils that would savagely destroy a thousand years of the progress of civilization, which corresponds exactly with the meaning of «the blowers on knots.»

And for example, the sentence «And from the evil of the envious when he envies» makes 1347 - the doubled râ and tanwîn are not counted - and coincides exactly, and corresponds in meaning, with the significant upheavals which occurred in this country due to the enforced European treaties, and the changes that took place in this religious nation due to the oppression of philosophy, and the awesome envy, rivalry and clashes in various countries which paved the way for the Second World War. These are surely flashes of this sacred sura's miraculous predictions concerning the Unseen.

All Qur'anic verses have numerous meanings, and all the meanings are universal; they have significations in every century, Those discussed here are only its level of allusive meaning which looks to our century, and within that universal meaning our age is one signification, but it has gained particularity and looks to it and its date. These last four years I have known neither the stages of the war, nor its results, nor whether or not peace has been declared, and I have not asked, and so have not knocked on the door of this sacred sura to learn how many allusions it contains to this century

and its wars. It has however been proved and explained in various parts of the Risale-i Nur, and especially in Rumûzât-ı Semâniye (The Eight Symbols), that this treasury contains many more mysteries, so referring readers to those, I am cutting this short.

There is a sign indicating an extremely subtle relationship in this flash of miraculousness, in the «From the evil of aught that He has created» at the beginning, both the «from (min)» and «the evil (sharr)» being counted, and in «and from the evil of the envious when he envies» at the end, only the word «evil (sharr)» being counted, and «and from (wa min)» not being counted, and in neither of these words being counted in «and from the evil of the blowers on knots (wa min sharr al-naffâthât fi'l-'uqad).» For there is good as well as evil in people (khalq), and not all evil is visited on every- one. Alluding to this, «from (min)» and «evil (sharr),» which are partitive, are counted. But the envier is altogether evil when he envies, so there is no need for the partitive. And according to the allusion of «the blowers on knots,» there is no need for the word «evil» to be counted here, for all the works of those casters of spells and sorcerer diplomats who have set the globe ablaze for their own benefits are pure evil.

Just as with four of its five sentences, this sura looks with its allusive meaning to the four largest evil revolutions and storms this century; so, with its allusive meaning and according to jafr reckoning, by its repeating four times the phrase «from the evil of (min sharri)» the doubling is not counted, it looks to and points the finger at the century of the dissension of Jenghiz Khan and Hulagu and the time of the fall of the 'Abbasid dynasty, which was the most fearsome calamity experienced by the Islamic world.

Yes, without doubling, «the evil (sharri)» makes 500, and «from (min)» is 90. Numerous verses which look to the future, as well as Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) and Ghawth al-A'zam (May his mystery be sanctified), who alluded to both our century and those times in their predictions of the future, saw both our century and that century and made predictions in exactly the same way. With «ghâsiq» making 1161 and «idhâ waqab» making 810, these words (ghâsiq idhâ waqab) look not to these times but to the significant material and immaterial evils of those times. If they are counted together, they make 1971 and give news of some ghastly evil at that date. If the crops of the seeds of the present are not rectified, the blows will certainly be terrible.

A Supplement To the Addendum of the Eleventh Topic

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

The verse, «Let there be no compulsion (in religion; Truth stands out) from error,» {[*]:} which is the complement of the Throne Verse, makes 1350; «whoever rejects evil» makes 1929 or 1928; «and believes in God has grasped» makes 946, corresponding to the name Risaletü'n-Nur; «the most trustworthy handhold» makes 1347; «that never breaks, and God is All-Seeing, All-Knowing * (God)(is the Protector of those who have faith)» if counted together makes 1012, and if not counted together 945, with one doubling not being counted; «from (the depths of darkness) He will lead them forth into the light» makes 1372, without doubling; «while those who do not believe, their patrons are (the evil ones)» makes 1417; «from the light (they will lead them forth into) the depths of darkness» makes 1338, the doubling is not counted; «they will be the companions of the Fire, to dwell therein for ever» makes 1295, the doubling is counted.

It was imparted to me that with their allusive meanings, these verses coincide exactly and twice with both the name of the Risaletü'n-Nur and the form of its striving; and with the date the people of unbelief were attempting to extinguish the light of the World of Islam with the war of 1293 (1876-77); and with the date the terrible treaties were signed in 1338 taking advantage of the First World War and in order to cast it into darkness in fact. It was imparted to me too that light and darkness are repeatedly contrasted in these verses, and in this immaterial struggle a light proceeding from the Qur'an's light would become a point of support for the people of belief. I was compelled to set this down in writing. Then I saw that the relationship of its meaning with this century was so powerful that even had there been no sign through the coincidences, I would still have been certain that these verses were speaking with us through their allusive meanings, just as they look to all centuries.

Yes, firstly, the sentence at the beginning, «Let there be no compulsion (in religion; Truth stands out) from error» points through abjad and jafr reckoning to the date 1350 [if Rumi, 1934, or if Hijri, 1931-2], and through its allusive meaning, says: By the matters of religion being separated from those of this world on that date, freedom of conscience, which is opposed

to force and compulsion in religion and to religious struggle and armed jihad for religion was accepted as a fundamental rule and political principle by governments, and this State became a secular republic. In view of this, jihad will be a non-physical religious jihad with the sword of certain, affirmative belief, for it shows a flash of miraculousness indicating that a light will emerge from the Qur'an which will make known and set forth clearly proofs so powerful they will demonstrate almost visibly the guidance and truths of religion.

Furthermore, as far as the word «khâlidûn - to dwell therein for ever,» by repeating the contrast between light and darkness, and belief and darkness - the source and origin of all the comparisons in the Risale-i Nur and just like them - is a concealed sign that a great hero in the contest of the mânevî jihad at that date is the Risale-i Nur, which bears the name of light. For its immaterial sword has solved hundreds of the mysteries of religion, leaving no need for physical swords.

Yes, countless thanks be to God, for twenty years the Risale-i Nur has demonstrated this prediction and flash of miraculousness in fact. It is due to this mighty mystery that Risale-i Nur students do not interfere in the politics and political currents of the world and their material struggles, nor attach importance to them, nor condescend to any involvement with them. Its true students say to their most fearsome enemies in the face of their insults and aggression:

"You wretch! I am trying to save you from eternal annihilation and to raise you from the basest and most grievous level of ephemeral animality to the happiness of immortal humanity, while you are working for my death and execution. Your pleasures in this world are very few and fleeting and the penalties and torments you will suffer in the hereafter will be very great and very longlasting. For me, death will be a discharge from duties. Go away! I am not going to bother with you, do whatever you like!" They feel not anger at their enemies, but pity and compassion. They try to reform them in the hope they will be saved.

Secondly: "And believes in God has grasped the most trustworthy handhold." These two sacred sentences have a powerful relationship, and according to abjad and jafr reckoning the first corresponds exactly with the name Risaletü'n-Nur, and the second corresponds in meaning, and according to jafr reckoning with its being realized and perfected and its brilliant conquests. These correspondences are an indication that this century at this date, the Risaletü'n-Nur is "a most trustworthy handhold." That is, it is an unbreakable chain of great strength and a "rope of God (hablullâh)." They inform through their allusive meanings that those who lay hold of it and cling onto it will be saved.

Thirdly: Both in meaning and according to jafr reckoning, the sentence «God is the Protector of those who have faith» makes an allusion to the Risaletü'n-Nur, as follows...

(The curtain descended here and permission was not given to write it. It has been postponed to another time.)

NOTE

The reason permission was not given to write the remainder of this point for now is that it touches on politics and this world and we are prohibited from considering such things. Yes, the verse, «Man is indeed overweening» {[*]:} looks to this ' tâghût ' and draws attention to it...

Part of a letter from Husrev, the hero of the Risale-i Nur, In connection with the Eleventh Topic of The Fruits of Belief

In His Name, be He glorified!

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.

May the peace and mercy and blessings of God be upon you!

My Beloved and Esteemed Master!

With the great good it contains for this nation and country, with its Ninth Topic The Fruits of Belief was not only the means of salvation of its students while in the midst of their greatest enemies and the awesomely rebellious, but also with its Tenth and Eleventh Topics, it applauded the Risale-i Nur students in particular on the ways of reality. Moreover, concerning the circumstances of the grave, which we are certain to enter, by making familiar that place under the earth, which makes everyone tremble and is a source of terror for the heedless in particular, where we will meet and speak with the angels; it made us happy at their companionship, and dispelled our terrible fears about that first stopping-place, letting us breathe freely. In the hands of those like me who have not seen that luminous life, it resembles an electric lamp whose rays penetrate hundreds of thousands of years. It also resembles a model flower-garden, the scents of which are ever a source of delight.

Yes, I suggest to our beloved Master that like students who everyday recite their lessons to their teacher, we should always describe to our beloved Master the effulgence we receive from the Risale-i Nur. But for now our beloved Master is refraining from speaking.

My Dear Master! The reality of the Risale-i Nur, the beauty of the Fruits, and effulgence of its flowers have driven me to utter a few words, gratefully, in the name of my country, and have breathed life into many hearts which speak like mine. But now, due to the "flower" of the Eleventh Fruit of Belief, the steps taken against the Risale-i Nur in our area and the hands raised against it, have become harsher and stronger, and have been stirred into action.

A letter written in the name of all the Risale-i Nur students in Isparta To offer congratulations for Ramadan, which has been amended In thirteen sections

In His Name, be glorified!

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.

Our revered Master, who through the effulgence of the Qur'an and truths of the Risale-i Nur and aspirations of his loyal students weeps tears of blood for the well-being of the Islamic world in this world and the next...

Who in these stormy days of the end of time is beset with more woes and ills than Job (Peace be upon him), and through the light of the Qur'an, the proofs of the Risale-i Nur and efforts of his students works to cure the ills of the Islamic world like Luqman the Wise, and has proved with thirty- three verses of the Qur'an and the wondrous predictions of Imam 'Ali and Ghawth al-A'zam that the Risale-i Nur with its different parts is truth and reality...

Who although he is himself ill and elderly and weak and in a piteous condition, more than anyone sacrifices his life for the World of Islam and responds to those wrong him with the truths of the Qur'an and proofs of the Risale-i Nur, and through the loyalty of the Risale-i Nur students, with prayers and good works...

Who together with his students was sent to prison because one of his

important works, The Supreme Sign, was printed, and through the guidance of the Qur'an and teachings of the Risale-i Nur and enthusiasm of his students turned the prison in a School of Joseph and place of learning, and was the cause of all the ignorant among us learning to read the whole Qur'an, and despite being elderly and weak, through the sacred strength of the Qur'an and solace of the Risale-i Nur and endurance of his brothers, took on himself the loads of all of us and through The Fruits of Belief and Defence Speeches which he wrote, the miraculousness of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, and the powerful proofs of the Risale-i Nur, and sincerity of his students, with divine permission had the prison door opened and won our acquittals, and made that day a festival for us and for the Islamic world, and proving that in truth the Risale-i Nur is "Light upon light," won the right for it to be read and written out freely till the end of time...

Who has proved with the sacred sustenance of the Qur'an of Mighty Stature and other-worldly food of the Risale-i Nur and appetite of its students, that the World of Islam has need for the Risale-i Nur as it does for water and air, and that thousands of those who have read these treatises and written them out have entered the grave in a state of belief, and has never defeated or embarrassed the students who follow him, and through the heavenly teachings of the Qur'an, the principles of the Risale-i Nur, the intelligence of its students, and the Tenth and Eleventh Topics of the Fruits of Belief and its flowers quenches the fires of separation that night and day sear our hearts, like the water of life and wine of Kawthar, filling them with joy and happiness...

Who, in accordance with the certain promises and threats of the Qur'an of Mighty Stature and the certain discoveries of the Risale-i Nur and the observations of its late students and those among them who divine the happenings of the grave, has for the believers saved death - the thing most feared by all the world - from being eternal annihilation and transformed it into a discharge from duties and shown that for the unbelievers and dissemblers it is eternal annihilation; has proved in accordance with the certain news of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, confirmed both by the thousand miracles of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) and its forty aspects of miraculousness, and endorsed by the proofs of the Risale-i Nur - which proceeds from the Qur'an - which have defeated even its most obdurate enemies and are submitted to by the Risale-i Nur students, and are corroborated too by many signs, experiences, and convictions, that the terrifying, cold, dark and narrow grave is for the believers a pit of Paradise and a door onto the gardens of Paradise, while for the disbelievers and dissembling atheists is a pit of Hell full of snakes and scorpions; and has made

the angels called Munkar and Nakir, who will enter there, familiar companions for the people of truth and those who have taken the way of reality; and included the Risale-i Nur students among 'students of the religious sciences,' and discovered on the death of the late heroic martyr Hafiz Ali that they reply to the questions of Munkar and Nakir with the Risale-i Nur, and who beseeches divine mercy that those of us who are still living will also reply with the Risale-i Nur...

Who, through demonstrating an aspect of miraculousness pertaining to each of the forty levels of the Qur'an of Mighty Stature, and through it being the pre-eternal Word of God, and through the works The Miraculousness of the Qur'an and The Eight Symbols from the Risale-i Nur, and the extraordinary efforts of the heroic brothers and students of the Risale-i Nur like the chief writer of the Rose Factory, and through Husrev, one of the heroic scribes of the Risale-i Nur being commanded to "write!" although no one since the time of the Prophet (PBUH) had been able to write it in such miraculous fashion, its being written like the Qur'an inscribed on the Preserved Tablet, - has proved in beautiful and brilliant fashion, never before seen or heard, that the Qur'an of Mighty Stature is the true Word of God, and the greatest of all the revealed books, and that there are thousands of Sura al-Fatiha's within one Sura al-Fatiha, and thousands of Sura al-Ikhlas's within one Sura al-Ikhlas, and that its letters yield ten, a hundred, a thousand, and thousands of merits and good deeds...

Who has proved, through the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition demonstrating its miraculousness for one thousand three hundred years and halting those who oppose it, and through the proofs of the Risale-i Nur that are so clear as to be almost visible, and through the diamond pens of the Risale-i Nur students, that the Twenty-Fifth Word and its Addenda, which have challenged the world and silenced even the most obdurate, are miracles of the Qur'an in forty aspects...

Who has proved in the treatise from the Risale-i Nur called The Miracles of Muhammad (PBUH) thousands of miracles showing that Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) was a true Messenger, the lord of all the twenty-four thousand prophets, and the most virtuous of them, and through the Qur'an of Mighty Stature proclaiming to the universe that God's Noble Messenger (PBUH) was sent as a Mercy to All the Worlds, and the Risale-i Nur demonstrating from beginning to end that he was a Mercy to All the Worlds, and showing even to the blind that the Messenger's deeds and conduct are the finest and best example to be followed in the world, and through the testimony of calamities being lifted when the Risale-i Nur is disseminated in Anatolia and other countries, and disasters occurring when

it is silenced, and through the firm and steadfast attachment to their work of the Risale-i Nur students despite the extremely difficult circumstances, has shown how profitable it is to follow the practices of that Being (PBUH) and that to follow a single of his practices at this time gains the reward of a hundred martyrs, and has proved absolutely certainly that for twenty years the Risale-i Nur has repulsed the calamities and disasters that would other- wise have been visited on Anatolia, the same as alms-giving repels disaster!

Now, since the Risale-i Nur 's acquittal has filled with joy foremost our beloved Master, then us impotent, faulty students, then the Islamic world, and occasioned a second festival, we congratulate you on this great festival of yours, and offering our congratulations for Ramadan and the Night of Power, the third festival, we beseech Almighty God we shall see many more, and imploring forgiveness for our faults and the faulty among us, we send the greetings of all here and kiss your blessed hands, and beseech your prayers, o our Master!

To modestly reject this letter, which is a hundred times greater than my due, would be ingratitude and an insult to the favourable opinions of all the students, while to accept it exactly as it is would tell of pride, egotism, and conceit. Therefore, adding thirteen sections, I am sending you a copy of this long letter written by the Risale-i Nur 's scribe in everyone's name, both by way of thanks and to be saved from pride and ingratitude. It may be added at the end of the Eleventh Topic with the title: 'A letter from the Risale-i Nur students of Isparta and its environs.' Although I have amended the letter in this way, twice a pigeon alighted at my window. It was going to enter, but saw Ceylan's head and did not. Several minutes later, another alighted in exactly the same way. It too saw the scribe's head and did not come inside. I said: "Most probably these are bearers of good news like the sparrow and 'kuddüs' bird before. Or perhaps, because we have written this letter like numerous other secret letters, they came to congratulate us on amending the auspicious letter in this way."

The Staff of Moses

This treatise was very much appreciated by the Ankara Committee of Experts, and it also contributed significantly to our acquittal. It is an extremely decisive and powerful proof of the greatest clarity which has broken the back of absolute disbelief.

The First Proof

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. The seven heavens and the earth and all that is in them extol and glorify Him, and there is nothing but glorifies Him with praise, but you understand not their glorifying; indeed, He is Most Forebearing, Most Forgiving. {[*]:}

[Since this sublime verse, like many other Qur'anic verses, mentions first the heavens - that brilliant page proclaiming God's unity, gazed on at all times and by all men with wonder and joy - in its pronouncement of the Creator of this cosmos, let us too begin with a mention of the heavens.]

Every voyager who comes to the hospice and the realm of this world, opens his eyes and wonders who is the master of this fine hospice, which resembles a most generous banquet, a most ingenious exhibition, a most impressive camp and training ground, a most amazing and wondrous place of recreation, a most profound and wise place of instruction. He asks himself too who is the author of this great book, and who is the monarch of this lofty realm. There first presents itself to him the beautiful face of the heavens, inscribed with the gilt lettering of the stars. That face calls him saying, "Look at me, and I shall guide you to what you seek."

He looks then and sees a manifestation of dominicality performing various tasks in the heavens: it holds aloft in the heavens, without any supporting pillar, hundreds of thousands of heavenly bodies, some of which are a thousand times heavier than the earth and revolve seventy times faster than a cannon-ball; it causes them to move in harmony and swiftly without colliding with each other; it causes innumerable lamps to burn constantly, without the use of any oil; it disposes of these great masses without any disturbance or disorder; it sets sun and moon to work at their respective tasks, without those great bodies ever rebelling; it administers within

infinite space - the magnitude of which cannot be measured in figures should they stretch from pole to pole - all that exists, at the same time, with the same strength, in the same fashion, manner and mould, without the least deficiency; it reduces to submissive obedience to its law all the aggressive powers inherent in those bodies; it cleanses and lustrates the face of the heavens, removing all the sweepings and refuse of that vast assembly; it causes those bodies to manoeuvre like a disciplined army; and then, making the earth revolve, it shows the heavens each night and each year in a different form, like a cinema screen displaying true and imaginative scenes to the audience of creation.

There is within this dominical activity a truth consisting of subjugation, administration, revolution, ordering, cleansing, and employment. This truth, with its grandeur and comprehensiveness, bears witness to the necessary existence and unity of the Creator of the Heavens and testifies to that Existence being more manifest than that of the heavens. Hence it was said in the First Degree of the First Station:

There is no god but God, the Necessary Being, to whose necessary existence in unity the heavens and all they contain testify, through the testimony of the sublimity of the comprehensiveness of the truth of subjugation, administration, revolution, ordering, cleansing, and employment, a truth vast and perfect, and to be observed.

Then that wondrous place of gathering known as space or the atmosphere begins thunderously to proclaim to that traveller come as a guest to the world, "Look at me! You can discover and find through me the object of your search, the one who sent you here!" The traveller looks at the sour but kind face of the atmosphere, and listening to the awesome but joyous thunderclaps perceives the following.

The clouds, suspended between the sky and the earth, water the garden of the world in the most wise and merciful fashion, furnish the inhabitants of the earth with the water of life, modify the natural heat of life, and has- ten to bestow aid wherever it is needed. In addition to fulfilling these and other duties, the vast clouds, capable of filling the heavens sometimes hide themselves, with their parts retiring to rest so that not a trace can be seen, just like a well-disciplined army showing and hiding itself in accordance with sudden orders.

Then, the very instant the command is given to pour down rain, the clouds gather in one hour, or rather in a few minutes; they fill the sky and await further orders from their commander.

Next the traveller looks at the wind in the atmosphere and sees that the air is employed wisely and generously in such numerous tasks that it is as if each of the inanimate atoms of that unconscious air were hearing and noting the orders coming from that monarch of the universe; without neglecting a single one of them, it performs them in ordered fashion and through the power of the monarch. Thereby it gives breath to all beings and conveys to all living things the heat, light, and electricty they need, and transmits sound, as well as aiding in the pollination of plants.

The traveller then looks at the rain and sees that within those delicate, glistening sweet drops, sent from a hidden treasury of mercy, there are so many compassionate gifts and functions contained that it is as if mercy itself were assuming shape and flowing forth from the dominical treasury in the form of drops. It is for this reason that rain has been called "mercy." Next the traveller looks at the lightning and listens to the thunder and ses that both of these, too, are employed in wondrous tasks.

Then taking his eyes off these, he looks to his own intellect and says: "The inanimate, lifeless cloud that resembles carded cotton has of course no knowledge of us; when it comes to our aid, it is not because it takes pity on us. It cannot appear and disappear without receiving orders. Rather it acts in accordance with the orders of a most powerful and compassionate commander. First it diasppears without leaving a trace, then suddenly reap- pears in order to begin its work. By the command and power of a most active and exalted, a most magnificent and splendid, monarch, it fills and then empties the atmosphere. Inscribing the sky with wisdom and erasing the pattern, it makes of the sky a tablet of effacement and affirmation, a depiction of the gathering and the resurrection. By the contriving of a most generous and bountiful, a most munificent and solicitous sustainer, a ruler who regulates and disposes, it mounts the wind and taking with it treasuries of rain each as heavy as a mountain, hastens to the aid of the needy. It is as if it were weeping over them in pity, with its tears causing the flowers to smile, tempering the heat of the sun, spraying gardens with water, and washing and cleansing the face of the earth."

That wondering traveller then tells his own intellect: "These hundreds of thousands of wise, merciful and ingenious tasks and acts of generosity and mercy that arise from the veil and outer form of this inanimate, lifeless, unconscious, volatile, unstable, stormy, unsettled, and inconstant air, clearly establish that this diligent wind, this tireless servant, never acts of itself, but rather in accordance with the orders of a most powerful and knowing, a most wise and generous commander. It is as if each particle were aware of every single task, like a soldier understanding and hearkening

to every order of its commander, for it hears and obeys every dominical command that courses through the air. It aids all animals to breathe and to live, all plants to pollinate and grow, and cultivates all the matter necessary for their survival. It directs and administers the clouds, makes possible the voyaging of sailing ships, and enables sounds to be conveyed, particularly by means of wireless, telephone, telegraph and radio, as well as numerous other universal functions.

"Now these atoms, each composed of two such simple materials as hydrogen and oxygen and each resembling the other, exist in hundreds of thousands of different fashions all over the globe; I conclude therefore that they are being employed and set to work in the utmost orderliness by a hand of wisdom.

"As the verse makes clear,

And the disposition of the winds and the clouds, held in disciplined order between the heavens and the earth, {[*]:}

the one who through the disposition of the winds employs them in countless dominical functions, who through the ordering of the clouds uses them in infinite tasks of mercy, and who creates the air in this fashion - such a one can only be the Possessor of Necessary Existence, the One Empowered over All Things and Knowledgeable of All Things, the Sustainer endowed with Glory and Generosity." This is the conclusion our traveller now draws.

Then he looks at the rain and sees that within it are contained benefits as numerous as the raindrops, and dominical manifestations as multiple as the particles of rain, and instances of wisdom as plentiful as its atoms. Those sweet, delicate and blessed drops are moreover created in so beautiful and ordered a fashion, that particularly the rain sent in the summertime, is despatched and caused to fall with such balance and regularity that not even stormy winds that cause large objects to collide can destroy its equilibrium and order; the drops do not collide with each other or merge in such fashion as to become harmful masses of water. Water, composed of two simple elements like hydrogen and oxygen, is employed in hundreds of thousands of other wise, purposeful tasks and arts, particularly in animate beings; although it is itself inanimate and unconscious. Rain which is then the very embodiment of divine mercy can only be manufactured in the unseen treasury of mercy of One Most Compassionate and Merciful, and on its descent expounds in physical form the verse:

And He it is who sends down rain after men have despaired, and thus spreads out His Mercy. {[*]:}

The traveller next listens to the thunder and watches the lightning. He understands that these two wondrous events in the atmosphere are like a material demonstration of the verse,

The thunder glorifies His praise, {[*]:} * The brilliance of His lightning almost robs them of their sight. {[*]:}

They also announce the coming of rain, and thus give glad tidings to the needy.

Yes, this sudden utterance of a miraculous sound by the atmosphere; the filling of the dark sky with the flash and fire of lightning; the setting alight of the clouds that resemble mountains of cotton or pipes bursting with water and snow - these and similar phenomena are like a blow struck on the head of the negligent man whose gaze is directed down at the earth. They tell him:

"Lift up your head, look at the miraculous deeds of the most active and powerful being who wishes to make himself known. In the same way that you are not left to your own devices, so too, these phenomena and events have a master and a purpose. Each of them is caused to fulfil a particular task, and each is employed by a Most Wise Disposer."

The wondering traveller hears then the lofty and manifest testimony to the truth that is composed of the disposition of the winds, the descent of the rains and the administration of the events of the atmosphere, and says: "I believe in God." That which was stated in the Second Degree of the First Station expresses the observations of the traveller concerning the atmosphere:

There is no god but God, the Necessary Being, to whose necessary existence in unity the atmosphere and all its contains testifies, through the testimony of the sublimity of the comprehensiveness of the truth of subjugation, disposal, causing to descend, and regulation, a truth vast and perfect, and to be observed.

Next the globe addresses that thoughtful traveller, now growing accustomed to his reflective journey:

"Why are you wandering through the heavens, through space and the sky? Come, I will make known to you what you are seeking. Look at the

functions that I perform and read my pages!" He looks and sees that the globe, like an ecstatic Mevlevi dervish with its twofold motion, is tracing out around the field of the Supreme Gathering a circle that determines the succession of days, years, and seasons. It is a most magnificent dominical ship, loaded with the hundreds of thousands of different forms of food and equipment needed for all animate beings, floating with the utmost equilibrium in the ocean of space and circling the sun.

He then looks at the pages of the earth and sees that each page of each of its chapters proclaims the Sustainer of the Earth in thousands of verses. Being unable to read the whole of it, he looks at the page dealing with the creation and deployment of animate beings in the spring, and observes the following:

The forms of the countless members of hundreds of thousands of species emerge, in the utmost precision, from a simple material and are then nurtured in most merciful fashion. Then, in miraculous manner, wings are given to some of the seeds; they take to flight and are thus dispersed. They are most effectively distributed, most carefully fed and nurtured. Countless tasty and delicious forms of food, in the most merciful and tender fashion, are brought forth from dry clay, and from roots, seeds and drops of liquid that differ little among each other. Every spring, a hundred thousand kinds of food and equipment are loaded on it from an unseen treasury, as if onto a railway waggon, and are despatched in utmost orderliness to animate beings. The sending to infants of canned milk in those food packages, and pumps of sugared milk in the form of their mothers' affectionate breasts, is in particular such an instance of solicitousness, mercy and wisdom that it immediately establishes itself as a most tender manifestation of the mercy and generosity of the Merciful and Compassionate One.

In Short: this living page of spring displays a hundred thousand examples and samples of the Supreme Gathering, and is a tangible demonstration of this verse,

So look to the signs of God's mercy: how He gives life to the earth after its death, for verily He it is Who gives life to the dead, and He has power over all things. {[*]:}

Moreover, this verse may be said to express in miraculous fashion the meanings of the page that is spring. The traveller thus understood that the earth proclaims through all its pages, in fashion proportionate to their size: «There is no god but He.» {[*]:}

In expression of the meaning beheld by the traveller through the brief testimony of one of the twenty aspects of a single page out of the more than twenty pages of the globe, it was said in the Third Degree of the First Station:

There is no god but God, the Necessary Being, to whose necessary existence in unity the earth with all that is in it and upon it testifies, through the testimony of the sublimity of the comprehensiveness of the truth of subjugation, disposition, nurturing, opening, distribution of seeds, protection, administration, the giving of life to all animate beings, compassion and mercy universal and general, a truth vast and perfect, and to be observed.

Then that reflective traveller read each page of the cosmos, and as he did so his faith, that key to felicity, strengthened; his gnosis, that key to spiritual progress, increased; his belief in God, the source and foundation of all perfection, developed one degree more; his joy and pleasure augmented and aroused his eagerness; and while listening to the perfect and convincing lessons given by the sky, by space and the earth, he cried out for more. Then he heard the rapturous invocation of God made by the tumult of the seas and the great rivers, and listened to their sad yet pleasant sounds. In numerous ways they were saying to him: "Look at us, read also our signs Looking, our traveller saw the following:

The seas, constantly and vitally surging, merging and pouring forth with an inclination to conquest inherent in their very nature, surrounded the earth, and together with the earth, revolved, extremely swiftly, in a circle of twenty-five thousand years in a single year. Yet the seas did not disperse, did not overflow or encroach on the land contiguous to them. They moved and stood still, and were protected by the command and power of a most powerful and magnificent being.

Then looking to the depths of the sea, the traveller saw that apart from the most beautiful, well-adorned and symmetrical jewels, there were thousands of different kinds of animal, sustained and ordered, brought to life and caused to die, in so disciplined a fashion, their provision coming from mere sand and salt water, that it established irresistibly the existence of a Powerful and Glorious, a Merciful and Beauteous Being administering and giving life to them.

The traveller then looks at the rivers and sees that the benefits inherent in them, the functions they perform, and their continual replenishment, are inspired by such wisdom and mercy as indisputably to prove that all rivers,

springs, streams and great waterways flow forth from the treasury of mercy of the Compassionate One, the Lord of Glory and Generosity. They are preserved and dispensed, indeed, in so extraordinary a fashion that it is said "Four rivers flow forth from Paradise." {[*]:} That is, they transcend by far apparent causes, and flow forth instead from the treasury of a non-material Paradise, from the superabundance of an unseen and inexhaustible source.

For example, the blessed Nile, that turns the sandy land of Egypt into a paradise, flows from the Mountains of the Moon in the south without ever being exhausted, as if it were a small sea. If the water that flowed down the river in six months were gathered together in the form of a mountain and then frozen, it would be larger than those mountains. But the place in the mountains where the water is lodged and stored is less than a sixth of their mass. As for the water that replenishes the river, the rain that enters the reservoir of the river is very sparse in that torrid region and is quickly swallowed up by the thirsty soil; hence it is incapable of maintaining the equilibrium of the river. A tradition has thus grown up that the blessed Nile springs, in miraculous fashion, from an unseen Paradise. This tradition has profound meaning and expresses a beautiful truth.

The traveller saw, then, a thousandth part of the truths and affirmations contained in the oceans and rivers. The seas proclaim unanimously with a power proportionate to their extent, «There is no god but He,» and produce as witnesses to their testimony all the creatures that inhabit them. This, our traveller preceived.

Expressing and conveying the testimony of the seas and the rivers, we said, in the Fourth Degree of the First Station:

There is no god but God, the Necessary Existent, to the necessity of whose existence in unity point all the seas and the rivers, together with all they contain, by the testimony of the sublimity of the comprehensiveness of the truth of subjugation, preservation, storing up, and administration, vast and well-ordered, and to be observed.

Then the traveller is summoned, on his meditative journey, by the mountains and the plains. "Read too our pages," they say. Looking he sees that the universal function and duty of mountains is of such grandeur and wisdom as to stupefy the intelligence. The mountains emerge from the earth by the command of their Sustainer, thereby palliating the turmoil, anger, and rancour that arise from disturbances within the earth. As the

mountains surge upward, the earth begins to breathe; it is delivered from harmful tremors and upheavals, and its tranquillity as it pursues its duty of rotation is no longer disturbed. In the same way that masts are planted in ships to protect them from turbulence and preserve their balance, so too mountains are set up on the deck of the ship that is the earth, as masts and stores, as is indicated by verses of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition such as these:

And the mountains as pegs, {[*]:} * And We have cast down anchors, {[*]:} * And the mountains He anchored them. {[*]:}

Then, too, there are stored up and preserved in the mountains all kinds of springs, waters, minerals and other materials needed by animate beings, in so wise, skilful, generous and foreseeing a fashion that they prove that they are the storehouses and warehouses and servants of One possessing infinite power, One possessing infinite wisdom. Deducing from these two examples the other duties and instances of wisdom - as great as mountains - of the mountains and plains, the traveller sees through the general instances of wisdom in them and particularly in regard to the fashion in which all manner of things are stored up in them providentially, the testimony they give and the Divine unity they proclaim declaring «There is no god but He,» - a declaration as powerful and firm as the mountains and vast and expansive as the plains - and he too says, "I believe in God."

In expression of this meaning, it was said in the Fifth Degree of the First Station:

There is no god but God, to the necessity of whose existence point all the mountains and plains together with what is in them and upon them, by the testimony of the sublimity of the comprehensiveness of the truth of the storing up, administration, dissemination of seed, preservation, and regulation, a truth providential, dominical, vast, general, well- ordered, and perfect, and to be observed.

Then, while that traveller was travelling in his mind through the mountains and plains, the gate to the arboreal and vegetable realm was opened before him. He was summoned inside: "Come," they said, "Inspect our realm and read our incriptions." Entering, he saw that a splendid and well- adorned assembly for the proclamation of God's unity and a circle for the mentioning of His names and the offering of thanks to Him, had been

drawn up. He understood for the very appearance of all trees and plants that their different species were proclaiming unanimously, «There is no god but He.» For he perceived three great and general truths indicating and proving that all fruit-giving trees and plants with the tongue of their symmetrical and eloquent leaves, the phrases of their charming and loquacious flowers, the words of their well-ordered and well-spoken fruits, were testifying to God's glory and bearing witness that «There is no god but He.»

The First: In the same way that in each of the plants and trees a deliberate bounty and generosity is to be seen in most obvious fashion, and a purposive liberality and munificence, so too it is to be seen in the totality of the trees and plants, with the brilliance of sunlight.

The Second: The wise and purposive distinction and differentiation, one that cannot in any way be attributed to chance, the deliberate and merciful adornment and giving of form - all this is to be seen as clearly as daylight in the infinite varieties and species; they show themselves to be the works and embroideries of an All-Wise Maker.

The Third: The opening and unfolding of all the separate members of the hundred thousand species of that infinite realm, each in its own distinct fashion and shape, in the utmost order, equilibrium and beauty, from well-defined, limited, simple and solid seeds and grains, identical to each other or nearly so - their emerging from those seeds in distinct and separate form, with utter equilibrium, vitality and wise purpose without the least error or mistake, is a truth more brilliant than the sun. The witnesses proving this truth are as numerous as the flowers, fruits and leaves that emerge in the spring. So the traveller said, "Praise be to God for the blessing of belief."

In expression of these truths and the testimony given to them, we said in the Sixth Degree of the First Station:

There is no god but God, to the necessity of whose existence in unity points the consensus of all the species of trees and plants that are engaged in glorifying God and speak with the eloquent and well- ordered words of their leaves, their loquacious and comely flowers, their well-ordered and well-spoken fruits, by the testimony of the sublimity of the comprehensiveness of the truth of bestowal, bounty, and generosity, done in purposive mercy, and the truth of differentiation, adornment, and decoration, done with will and wisdom. Definite, too, is the indication given by the truth of the opening of all their symmetrical, adorned, distinct, variegated and infinite forms, from seeds and grains that resemble and approximate each other, that are finite and limited.

As this traveller through the cosmos proceeded on his meditative journey, with increased eagerness and a bouquet of gnosis and faith, itself like a spring, gathered from the garden of the spring, there opened before his truth-perceiving intellect, his cognitive reason, the gate to the animal and bird realm. With hundreds of thousands of different voices and various tongues, he was invited to enter. Entering, he saw that all the animals and birds, in their different species, groups and nations, were proclaiming, silently and aloud, «There is no god but He, » and had thus turned the face of the earth into a vast place of invocation, an expansive assembly for the proclamation of God's glory. He saw each of them to be like an ode dedicated to God, a word proclaiming His glory, a letter indicating His mercy, each of them describing the Maker and offering Him thanks and encomium. It was as if the senses, powers, members and instruments of those animals and birds were orderly and balanced words, or perfect and disciplined expressions. He observed three great and comprehensive truths indicating, in decisive form, their offering of thanks to the Creator and Provider and their testimony to His unity.

The First: Their being brought into existence with wisdom and purpose and their creation full of art in a fashion that in no way can be attributed to chance, to blind force or inanimate nature; their being created and composed in purposive and knowledgeable manner; their animation and being given life in a way that displays in twenty aspects the manifestation of knowledge, wisdom, and will - all of this is a truth that bears witness to the Necessary Existence of the Eternally Living and Self-Subsistent, His seven attributes and unity, a witness repeated to the number of all animate beings.

The Second: There appears from the distinction made among those infinite beings and from their adornment and decoration in a fashion by which their features are different, their shapes adorned, their proportions measured and symmetrical, and their forms well-ordered - there appears from this a truth so vast and powerful that none other than the One Powerful over all things, the One Knowledgeable of all things, could lay claim to it, this comprehensive act which displays in every respect thousands of wonders and instances of wisdom; it is impossible and precluded that anything other than such a one could lay claim to it.

The Third: The emergence and unfolding of those countless creatures, in their hundreds of thousands of different shapes and forms, each of which is a miracle of wisdom, their emergence from eggs and drops of water called sperm that are identical with each other or closely resemble each other, and are limited and finite in number, all this in the most orderly,

symmetrical and unfailing fashion, is so brilliant a truth as to be illumined with proofs and evidences as numerous as the animals themselves.

By the consensus of these three truths, all the species of animals are engaged together in testifying that «There is no god but He.» It is as if the whole earth, like a great man, were saying «There is no god but He» in a manner befitting its vastness, and conveying its testimony to the dwellers of the heaven. The traveller saw this and understood it perfectly. In expression of these truths, we said in the Seventh Degree of the First Station:

There is no god but God, to whose necessary existence in unity points the consensus of all animals and birds, that praise God and bear witness to Him with the words of their senses, their faculties and powers, words well-balanced, ordered and eloquent; with the words of their limbs and members, words perfect and persuasive; by the testimony of the sublimity of the comprehensiveness of the truth of bringing into being, making, and creating, according to will, the truth of distinction and decoration according to purpose, and the truth of proportioning and forming according to wisdom. Definite too is the indication given by the truth of the opening of all of their orderly, distinct, variegated and infinite forms, out of identical or similar eggs and drops of sperm, that are finite and limited.

That meditative voyager, in order to advance farther in the infinite degrees and countless luminous stages of knowledge of God, then wished to enter the world of men, the realm of humanity. Humanity, headed by the prophets, invited him, and he accepted the invitation. Looking first at the stopping-place of the past, he saw that all of the prophets (Peace and blessings be upon him), the most luminous and perfect of human kind, were reciting in chorus, «No god but He,» and making remembrance of God. With the power of their brilliant, well-attested and innumerable miracles, they were proclaiming God's unity, and in order to advance man from the animal state to angelic degree, they were instructing men and summoning them to belief in God. Kneeling down in that school of light, he too paid heed to the lesson.

He saw that in the hand of each of those teachers, the most exalted and renowned of all celebrated human beings, there were numerous miracles, bestowed on them by the Creator of All Being as a sign confirming their mission. Further, a large group of men, a whole community, had confirmed their claims and come to belief at their hands; a truth assented to and confirmed by these hundreds of thousands of serious and veracious individuals,

unanimously and in full agreement, was bound to be firm and definitive. He understood, too, that the people of misguidance, in denying a truth attested and affirmed by so many veracious witnesses, were committing a most grievous error, indeed crime, and were therefore deserving of a most grievous punishment. He recognized, by contrast, those who assented to the truth and believed in it, as being the most true and righteous, and a further degree of the sanctity of belief became apparent to him.

Yes, the infinite miracles bestowed by God on the prophets (Peace be upon them) each one being like a confirmation of their mission; the heavenly blows dealt to their opponents, each being like a proof of their truth- fulness; their individual perfections, each one being like an indication of their righteousness; their veracious teachings; the strength of their faith, a witness to their honesty; their supreme seriousness and readiness to self-sacrifice; the sacred books and pages held by their hands; their countless pupils who through following their paths attain truth, perfection and light, thus proving again the truthfulness of the teachings; the unanimous agreement of the prophets - those most earnest warners - and their followers in all positive matters; their concord, mutual support and affinity - all of this constitutes so powerful a proof that no power on earth can confront it, and no doubt or hesitation can survive it.

Our traveller understood further that inclusion of belief in all the prophets (Peace be upon them) among the pillars of belief, represents another great source of strength. Thus he derived great benefit of faith from their lessons, in expression of which we said in the Eighth Degree of the First Station:

There is no god but God, to the necessity of whose existence in unity points the unanimity of all the prophets, through the power of their luminous miracles, that both affirm and are affirmed.

That questing traveller, having derived a lofty taste of truth from the power of belief, found himself invited, while coming from the assembly of the prophets (Peace be upon them) to the classroom of those profound, original, exacting scholars who affirm the claims of the prophets (Peace be upon them) with the most decisive and powerful proofs and who are known as the purified and most veracious ones.

Entering their classroom, he saw thousands of geniuses and hundreds of thousands of exact and exalted scholars proving all the affirmative matters connected with faith, headed by the necessity of God's existence and His unity, with such profound demonstrations as to leave not the least room for

doubt. Indeed, the fact that they are agreed in the principles and pillars of belief, despite their differences in capacity and outlook, and that each of them relies on a firm and certitudinous proof, is in itself such evidence that it can be doubted only if it is possible for a similar number of intelligent and perspicuous men to arrive at a single result. Otherwise the only way for the denier to oppose them is to display his ignorance - his utter ignorance - and his obstinacy with respect to negative matters that admit neither of denial nor affirmation. He will in effect be closing his eyes but the one who closes his eyes is able to turn day into night only for himself.

The traveller learned that the lights emitted in this vast and magnificent classroom by these respected and profound scholars had been illumining half of the globe for more than a thousand years. He found in it moral and spiritual force that the combined strength of all the people of denial would be unable to shake or destroy. In brief allusion to the lesson learned by the traveller in this classroom we said in the Ninth Degree of the First Station:

There is no god but God, to whose necessary existence in unity points the agreement of all of the purified scholars, with the power of their resplendent, certain and unanimous proofs.

Our contemplative traveller came forth from the classroom, ardently desiring to see the lights that are to be observed in the continuous strengthening and development of faith, and in advancing from the degree of the knowledge of certainty to that of the vision of certainty. He then found himself summoned by thousands or millions of spiritual guides who were striving toward the truth and attaining the vision of certainty in the shade of the highway of Muhammad (PBUH) and the ascension of Muhammad (PBUH). This they were doing in a meeting-place, a hospice, a place of remembrance and preceptorship, that was abundantly luminous and vast as a plain, being formed from the merging of countless small hospices and convents. Upon entering, he found that those spiritual guides - people of unveiling and wondrous deeds - were unanimously proclaiming, «No god but He, » on the basis of their witnessing and unveiling of the Unseen and the wondrous deeds they had been enabled to perform; they were proclaiming the necessary existence and unity of God. The traveller observed how manifest and clear must be a truth to which unanimously subscribe these sacred geniuses and luminous gnostics. For, like the sun is known through the seven colours in its light, the saints' luminous colours, their light-filled hues, their true paths and right ways and veracious courses are manifested from the light of the Pre-Eternal Sun through seventy colours, indeed,

through colours to the number of the divine names, and are all different. He saw that the unanimity of the prophets and the agreement of the purified scholars and accord of the saints forms a supreme consensus, more brilliant than the daylight that demonstrates the existence of the sun.

In brief allusion to the benefit derived by our traveller from the Sufi hospice, we said in the Tenth Degree of the First Station:

There is no god but God, to whose necessary existence in unity points the unanimity of the saints in their manifest, well-affirmed and attested divinations of the truth and wondrous deeds.

Now our traveller through the world, aware that the most important and greatest of all human perfections, indeed the very source and origin of all such perfections, is the love of God that arises from belief in God and the knowledge of God, wished with all of his powers, outer and inner, to advance still farther in the strengthening of his faith and the development of his knowledge. He therefore raised his head and gazing at the heavens said to himself:

"The most precious thing in the universe is life; all things are made subordinate to life. The most precious of all living beings is the animate, and the most precious of the animate is the conscious. Each century and each year, the globe is engaged in emptying and refilling itself, in order to augment this most precious substance. It follows, then, without doubt, that the magnificent and ornate heavens must have appropriate people and inhabitants, possessing life, spirit and consciousness, for events relating to seeing and speaking with the angels - such as the appearance of Gabriel (Peace be upon him) in the presence of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) and in the view of the Companions - have been transmitted and related from the most ancient times. Would, then, that I could converse with the inhabitants of the heavens, and learn their thoughts on this matter. For their words concerning the Creator of the cosmos are the most important."

As he was thus thinking to himself, he suddenly heard a heavenly voice: "If you wish to meet us and hearken to our lesson, then know that before all others we have believed in the articles of faith brought by means of us to the prophets, headed by the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), who brought the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition.

"Then too all of the pure spirits from among us that have appeared before men have, unanimously and without exception, born witness to the necessary existence, the unity, and the sacred attributes of the Creator of

this cosmos, and proclaimed this with one accord. The affinity and mutual correspondence of these countless proclamations is a guide for you as bright as the sun." Thus the traveller's light of faith shone, and rose from the earth to the heavens.

In brief allusion to the lesson learned by the traveller from the angels, we said in the Eleventh Degree of the First Station:

There is no god but God, to whose necessary existence in unity points the unanimity of the angels that appear to human gaze, and who speak to the elect among men, with their mutually corresponding and conforming messages.

Then, that ardent and inquisitive traveller, having learned from the tongues of various realms of creation in the Manifest Realm in their material and corporeal aspects, and from the utterance of their modes of being, desired to study and journey through the World of the Unseen and the Intermediate Realm, and thus to investigate reality. There opened to him the gate of upright and luminous intellects, of sound and illumined hearts, that are like the seed of man, who is the fruit of the universe, and despite their slight girth can expand virtually to embrace the whole of the cosmos.

He looked and saw a series of human isthmuses linking the realm of the Unseen with that of the Manifest, and the contacts between those two realms and the interchanges between them insofar as they affect man, taking place at those points. Addressing his intellect and his heart he said:

"Come, the path leading to truth from these counterparts of yours is shorter. We should benefit by studying their qualities, natures and colours concerning faith that we find here, not by listening to the lessons given by the tongues of disposition as was previously the case."

Beginning his study, he saw that the belief and firm conviction concerning the divine unity that all luminous intellects possessed, despite their varying capacities and differing, even opposing, meth٨ۨ٢ and outlooks, was the same, and that their steadfast and confident certainty and assurance was one. They had, therefore, to be relying on a single, unchanging truth; their roots were sunk in a profound truth and could not be plucked out. Their unanimity concerning faith, the necessary existence and unity of God, was an unbreakable and luminous chain, a brightly lit window opening onto the world of the truth.

He saw also that the unanimous, assured and sublime unveilings and witnessings of the pillars of belief enjoyed by all those sound and luminous intellects, whose methods were various and outlooks divergent, corresponded

to and agreed with each other on the matter of the divine unity. All those luminous hearts, turned and joined to the truth and manifesting it, each a small throne of dominical knowledge, a comprehensive mirror of God's Eternal Besoughtedness, were like so many windows opened onto the Sun of the Truth. Taken together, they were like a supreme mirror, like an ocean reflecting the sun. Their agreement and unanimity concerning the necessary existence and unity of God was an unfailing and reliable most perfect guide, most elevated preceptor. For it is in no way possible or conceivable that a supposition other than the truth, an untrue thought, a false attribute, should so consistently and decisively be able to deceive simultaneously so many sharp eyes, or to induce illusion in them. Not even the foolish Sophists, who deny the cosmos, would agree with the corrupt and dissipated intellect that held such a thing possible. All of this our traveller understood, and he said, together with his own intellect and heart, "I have believed in God,"

In brief allusion to the benefit derived from upright intellects and luminous hearts by our traveller, for knowledge of belief, we said in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Degrees of the First Station:

There is no god but God, to whose necessary existence in unity points the consensus of all upright intellects, illumined with congruent beliefs and corresponding convictions and certainties, despite differences in capacity and outlook. There also points to His necessary existence in unity the agreement of all sound, luminous hearts, with their mutually corresponding unveilings and their congruent witnessings, despite differences in method and manner.

Then that traveller looking closely at the World of the Unseen, and voyaging in it with his intellect and his heart, knocked inquisitively on the door of that world, thinking to himself, "What does this world have to say?" The following occurred to him: it is to be clearly understood that behind the veil of the Unseen is one who wants to make himself known through all these numerous finely adorned artefacts full of art in this corporeal Manifest World, and to make himself loved through these infinite sweet and decorated bounties, and to make known his hidden perfections through these innumerable miraculous and skilful works of art, and who does this by act rather than speech and by making himself known by the tongue of disposition. Since this is so, of a certainty he will speak and make himself known and loved through speech and utterance just as he does through deed and state. In which case, from his manifestations we must know him in respect

to the World of the Unseen. Whereupon he entered that world with his heart and saw the following with the eye of his intellect:

The truth of revelations prevails at all instants over all parts of the World of the Unseen, with a most powerful manifestation. There comes with the truths of revelation and inspiration proceeding from the One All-Knowing of the Unseen, a testimony to His existence and unity far stronger than testimony of the universe and created beings. He does not leave Him- self, His existence and His unity, only to the testimony of His creatures. Rather, He speaks with a pre-eternal Speech consonant with His own being. The Speech of the One who is all-present and all-seeing everywhere with His Knowledge and Power is also endless, and just as the meaning of His Speech makes Him known, so does His discourse make Himself known together with His attributes.

The traveller recognized that the truth, reality, and existence of revelation has been made plain to the point of being self-evident by the consensus of one hundred thousand prophets (Peace be upon them), by the agreement among their proclamations concerning the manifestion of divine revelation; by the evidences and miracles contained in the sacred books and heavenly pages, which are the guides and exemplars of the overwhelming majority of humanity, confirmed and assented to by them, and are the visible fruits of revelation. He understood further that the truth of revelation proclaims five sacred truths.

The First: To speak in accordance with men's intellects and understandings, known as 'divine condescension to the minds of men,' is a form of divine descent. It is a requirement of God's dominicality that He endows all of his conscious creatures with speech, understands their speech, and then participates in it with His own speech.

The Second: The One who, in order to make Himself known, fills the cosmos with His miraculous creations and endows them with tongues speaking of His perfections, will necessarily make Himself known with His own words also.

The Third: It is a function of His being Creator to respond in words to the supplications and offerings of thanks that are made by the most select, the most needy, the most delicate and the most ardent among His beings - true men.

The Fourth: The attribute of Speech, an essential concomitant and luminous manifestation of both Knowledge and Life, will necessarily be found in a comprehensive and eternal form in the being whose Knowledge is comprehensive and whose Life is eternal.

The Fifth: It is a consequence of Divinity that the Being who endows

men with impotence and desire, poverty and need, anxiety for the future, love and worship, should communicate His own existence, by way of His speech, to His most loved and lovable, His most anxious and needy creatures, who are most desirous of finding their Lord and Master.

The evidences for the existence in unity of the Necessary Existent offered in unanimity by universal and heavenly revelations, which contain the truths of divine descent, dominical self-proclamation, compassionate response, divine conversation, and eternal self-communication, constitute a proof more powerful than the testimony for the existence of the sun brought by the rays of sunlight.

Our traveller understood this then looked in the direction of inspiration and saw that veracious inspiration indeed resembles revelation in some respects and is a mode of dominical speech. There are, however, two differences:

THE FIRST: Revelation, which is much higher than inspiration, generally comes by the medium of the angels, whereas inspiration generally comes directly.

So too a king has two modes of speech and command. The first consists of his sending to a governor a lieutenant equipped with all the pomp of monarchy and the splendour of sovereignty. Sometimes, in order to demonstrate the splendour of his sovereignty and the importance of his command, he may meet with the intermediary, and then the decree will be issued.

The second consists of his speaking privately in his own person, not with the title of monarch or in the name of kingship, concerning some private matter, some petty affair, using for this purpose a trusted servant, some ordinary subject, or his private telephone.

In the same way the Pre-Eternal Monarch may either, in the name of the Sustainer of All the Worlds, and with the title of Creator of the Universe, speak with revelation or the comprehensive inspiration that performs the function of revelation, or He may speak in a different and private fashion, as the Sustainer and Creator of all animate beings, from behind the veil, in a way suited to the recipient.

THE SECOND DIFFERENCE: Revelation is without shadow, pure, and reserved for the elect. Inspiration, by contrast, has shadow, colours intermingle with it, and it is general. There are numerous different kinds of inspiration, such as the inspiration of angels, the inspiration of men, and the inspiration of animals; inspiration thus forms a field for the multiplication of God's words, that are as numeous as the drops in the ocean. Our traveller understood that this matter is, indeed, a kind of commentary on the verse,

Were the sea to become ink for the words of my Sustainer, verily the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Sustainer. {[*]:}

Then he looked at the nature, the wisdom, and the testimony of inspiration and saw that its nature, wisdom and result were composed of four lights.

The first: it is the result of God's Lovingness and Mercifulness that He makes himself loved through word, presence and discourse, in the same way that He makes Himself loved to His creatures through His deeds.

The second: it is a requirement of His Compassionateness that just as He answers His servants' prayers in deed, He should also answer them in word, from behind veils.

The third: it is a concomitant of dominicality that just as He responds in deed to the cries for help, supplications, and pleadings of those of His creatures who are afflicted with grievous misfortunes and hardships, so too He should hasten to their help with words of inspiration, which are like a form of speech.

The fourth: God makes His existence, presence and protection perceptible in deed to His most weak and indigent, His most poor and needy, conscious creatures, that stand in great need of finding their Master, Protector, Guardian, and Disposer. It is a necessary and essential consequence of His divine solicitousness and His dominical compassion that He should also communicate His presence and existence by speech, from behind the veil of veracious inspiration - a mode of dominical discourse - to individuals, in a manner peculiar to them and their capacities, through the telephone of their hearts.

He then looked to the testimony of inspiration and saw that if the sun, for example, had consciousness and life, and if the seven colours of sunlight were the seven attributes, in that respect it would have a form of speech through the rays and manifestations found in its light. And in this situation both its similitudes and reflections would be present in all transparent objects, and it would speak with all mirrors and shining objects and fragments of glass and bubbles and droplets of water, indeed with all trans- parent particles, in accordance with the capacity of each; it would respond to the needs of each, and all these would testify to the sun's existence; and no task would form an obstacle to any other task, and no speaking obstruct any other speaking. This is self-evident.

In the same way, the Speech of the Glorious Monarch of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity, the Beauteous and Exalted Creator of All Beings, Who

may be described as the Pre-Eternal Sun, manifests itself to all things, in general and comprehensive fashion, in a manner appropriate to their capacity, as do also His Knowledge and Power. No request interferes with another, no task prevents the fulfilment of another, and no address becomes confused with another. All of this our traveller understood as self-evident. He knew that all of those manifestations, those discourses, those inspirations, separately and together, evidenced and bore witness unanimously to the presence, the necessary existence, the unity and the oneness of that Pre-Eternal Sun with a knowlege of certainty that approached a vision of certainty.

In brief allusion to the lesson in knowledge of God from the World of the Unseen gained by our inquisitive traveller, we said in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Degrees of the First Station:

There is no god but God, the Necessary Existent, the One, the Single, to whose necessary existence in unity points the consensus of all true revelations, containing divine descent, glorious discourse, dominical self-revelation, compassionate response to the invocations of men, and eternal indications of His existence to his creatures. There points also to His necessary existence in unity the agreement of all veracious inspirations, containing expressions of God's love, compassionate responses to the prayers of God's creatures, dominical responses to the appeals of His servants for aid, and glorious intimations of His existence to His creatures.

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 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 fiiat learn that 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 tawâtur. {[*]:} Examples of these miracles are his splitting of the moon, «And the moon split,» {[*]:} 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 when you threw, but God's,» {[*]:} 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 work, 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 SECOND: 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 miraculousness 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 Miraculousness 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 injuctions. 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 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 we s attention to their profoundest dimensions, even while engaged in constant struggle and activity; in his practice of worship combining in perfect fashion the beginning and end of worship and servitude to 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 extra-ordinary excellence in supplicatory prayer, such a universally acclaimed summons to the truth and such a miraculous faith.

THE FOURTH: 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 (Peace be upon them) 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 thereof in the Torah, the Gospels, the Psalms, and the pages; 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 instructionAndntained 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.

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 divinity 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 divinity, 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 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 (Peace and blessings be upon him) including thousands of poles and supreme saints of penetrating gaze and ability to perceive the Unseen, such as Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him), who said, "Were the veil to be lifted, my certainty would not increase," and 'Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani, the Ghawth al-A'zam (May his mystery be sanctified), who saw the Supreme Throne and the awesome form of Israfil while yet on the earth.

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 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, 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 characterisitics, 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.

The tireless and insatiable traveller, who knew the aim of life in this world and the essence of life to be faith, addressed his own heart and said: "Let us examine the book known as the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, which is said to be the word and utterance of the Being Whom we are seeking, the most famous, the most brilliant and wisest book in the world, that issues a challenge in every age to whoever refuses to submit to it. Let us see what it says. But first, we must establish that this book is from our Creator," and he began to search.

Since the traveller lived in the present age, he looked first at the Risale-i Nur,

flashes from the miraculousness of the Qur'an; he saw its one hundred and thirty parts to consist of luminous points drawn from that Book of Discernment, or well-founded explanations of its contents. Even though the Risale-i Nur is valiantly struggling to diffuse the truths of the Qur'an in all directions, in this obstinate and atheistic age, no one can defeat it, which proves that its master, its source, its authority and its sun, is the Qur'an, heavenly not human speech. Among the hundreds of proofs in the different parts of the Risale-i Nur, the single proof contained in the Twenty-Fifth Word and the end of the Nineteenth Letter, establishes forty aspects of the Qur'an's miraculousness in such a way that whoever sees it, far from uttering any criticism or objection, admires its arguments, and utters appreciative praise. The traveller left it to the Risale-i Nur to prove that the Qur'an is miraculous and the true Word of God, turning only to a brief indication of a few points showing its greatness.

First Point: Just as the Qur'an, with all its miracles and truths indicating its veracity is a miracle of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) so too, Muhammad (PBUH) with all his miracles, proofs of prophethood and perfections of knowledge, is a miracle of the Qur'an and a decisive proof of the Qur' an's being the Word of God.

Second Point: The Qur'an, in this world, brought about in so luminous, felicitous and truthful a fashion, a revolution in the social life of man, as well as in the souls, hearts, spirits, and intellects of men, in their individual, social, and political lives, and having caused this revolution perpetuated it in such a fashion, that for fourteen centuries at every moment its six thousand, six hundred and sixty-six verses have been read by the tongues of more than a hundred million men, training them, refining their souls and purifying their hearts. To spirits, it has been a means of development and advancement; to intellects, an orientation and light; to life, it has been life itself and felicity. Such a book is of a certainty unparalleled; it is a wonder, a marvel, and a miracle.

Third Point: The Qur'an, from that age down to the present, has demonstrated such eloquence that it caused the value attached to the odes known as "Seven Hanging Poems" that were written in gold on the walls of the Ka'ba to descend to such a point that the daughter of Labid, when taking down her father's poem from the Ka'ba, said, "Compared with the verses of the Qur'an, this no longer has any value."

A bedouin poet heard this verse being recited,

Therefore expound openly what you are commanded, {[*]:}

and immediately prostrated. They asked him: "Have you become a Muslim?" "No " he replied, "I was prostrating before the eloquence of this verse."

Thousands of scholars and litterateurs, like geniuses of the science of rhetoric such as 'Abd al-Qahir Jurjani, Sakkaki, and Zamakhshari, have unanimously decided that the eloquence of the Qur'an is beyond human capacity and is unattainable.

The Qur'an has also from that time forward invited to the field of combat all arrogant and egoistic litterateurs and rhetoricians, and said to them in a manner calculated to break their arrogance: "Come, produce a single sura like it, or else accept perdition and humiliation in this world and the hereafter." Despite this challenge, the obstinate rhetoricians of that age abandoned the short path of producing a single sura like the Qur'an, and instead chose the long path of casting their persons and property into danger. This proves that the short path cannot be taken.

Millions of Arabic books are in circulation, some written by friends of the Qur'an in order to resemble and imitate it, others written by its enemies in order to confront and criticize it. Not one of them has been able to attain the level of the Qur'an. Should a common man even listen to them, he is sure to say: "The Qur'an does not resemble these other books, nor is it in the same class as they. It must be either below them or above them." No one - no unbeliever or fool - in the world can say that it is below them. Hence its degree of eloquence is above all of them. Once a man read the verse,

All that is in the heavens and the earth extols and glorifies God. {[*]:}

He said: "I cannot see any miraculous eloquence in this verse." He was told: "Go back to that age like the traveller, and listen to the verse as recited there." Imagining himself to be there before the revelation of the Qur'an, he saw that all the beings in the world were living in an unstable, transient world in empty, infinite and unbounded space, in confusion and darkness, lifeless and without consciousness and purpose. Suddenly he heard this verse proclaimed by the tongue of the Qur'an and the verse removed a veil from in front of the universe and illumined the face of the globe; this pre-eternal speech, this eternal decree, gave instruction to all conscious beings, drawn up in the ranks of succeeding centuries, in such fashion that the cosmos became like a vast mosque. All of creation headed by the heavens and the earth, was engaged in vital remembrance of God

and proclamation of His glory, was joyously and contentedly fulfilling its function.

All of this our traveller observed. Thus tasting the degree of the eloquence of the Qur'an, and comparing the other verses to it by analogy, he understood one of the many thousands of wise reasons for the conquest of half the globe and a fifth of humanity by the eloquent murmuring of the Qur'an, for the uninterrupted continuance of its respected and magnificent monarchy for fourteen centuries.

Fourth Point: The Qur'an has demonstrated such a veracious sweetness that whereas the repetition of even the sweetest thing induces disgust, it has from earliest times been accepted by everyone and even become proverbial that repeated recitation of the Qur'an, far from inducing disgust and weariness in men of sound heart and pure taste, on the contrary increases its sweetness.

The Qur'an demonstrates, moreover, such a freshness, youth and originality, that even though it has lived for fourteen centuries and passed through many hands, it retains its freshness as if it had only just been revealed. Every century sees the Qur'an enjoying a new youth, as if it were addressing that century in particular. Similarly, scholars of every branch of learning, even though they keep the Qur'an constantly at their side in order to benefit from it, and perpetually follow its method of exposition, see that the Qur'an maintains the originality of its style and manner of explanation.

Fifth Point: One wing of the Qur'an is in the past, and one is in the future, and like its root and one wing are the agreed truths of the former prophets and it confirms and corroborates them, and they too confirm it with the tongue of unanimity, so too all the true Sufi paths and ways of sainthood whose fruits like the saints and purified scholars, who receive life from the Qur'an, show through their vital spiritual progress that their blessed tree is living, effulgent, and the means to truth, and who grow and live under the protection of its second wing, testify that the Qur'an is pure truth and the assembly of truths and in its comprehensiveness, a matchless wonder.

Sixth Point: The Qur'an's truthfulness and veracity show that its six aspects are luminous. Indeed, the pillars of argument and proof beneath it; the flashes of the stamp of miraculousness above it; the gifts of happiness in this world and the next before it, its goal; the truths of heavenly revelation, the point of support behind it; the assent and evidence of innumerable upright minds to its right; and the true tranquillity, sincere attraction, and submission of sound hearts and clean consciences on its left all prove that the Qur'an is a wondrous, firm, unassailable citadel of both the heavens and the earth.

So too from these six levels, the Disposer of the universe has set His seal on its being sheer truth and right, and not being man's word, and its containing no error - the Disposer, Who has made it His practice to always exhibit beauty in the universe, protect good and right, and eliminate imposters and liars, has confirmed and set His seal on the Qur'an by giving it the most acceptable, highest, and most dominant place of respect and degree of success in the world.

And so too the one who is the source of Islam and interpreter of the Qur'an - his believing in it and holding it in greater respect than everyone else, and being in a sleep-like state when it was revealed, {[*]:} and other words and speeches not resembling or coming near it, and that Interpreter's describing without hesistation and with complete confidence through the Qur'an true cosmic events of generally the past and the future from behind the veil of the Unseen, and no trickery or fault being observed in him while being under the gazes of the sharpest eyes, and his believing and affirming every pronouncement of the Qur'an with all his strength and nothing shaking him, is a stamp confirming that the Qur'an is revealed and true and the blessed Word of his own Compassionate Creator.

Also a fifth of mankind, indeed the greater part of it, being drawn to the Qur'an and bound to it in religion and giving ear to it eagerly desirous of the truth, and according to the testimony of many indications and events and illuminations, the jinn, angels, and spirit beings also gathering around it in truth-worshipping fashion like moths whenever it is recited {[*]:} is a stamp confirming the Qur'an's acceptance by all beings and that it occupies a most high position.

Also, all the classes of mankind from the most stupid and lowly to the cleverest and most learned taking their full share of the Qur'an's instruction and their understanding its most profound truths, and all branches of scholars like the great interpreters of the Greater Shari'a in particular, and hundreds of Islamic sciences and branches of knowledge, and the brilliant and exacting scholars of theology and the principles of religion extracting from the Qur'an all the needs and answers for their own sciences is a stamp confirming that the Qur'an is a source of truth and mine of reality.

Also, although the Arab literary figures, who were the most advanced in regard to literature, - those of them who were not Muslims - had the greatest need to dispute the Qur'an, their avoiding producing the like of only a

single sura and its eloquence, eloquence being only one aspect of the seven major aspects of the Qur'an's miraculousness, as well as the famous orators and brilliant scholars up to the present who have wanted to gain fame through disputing it being unable to oppose a single aspect of its miraculousness and their remaining silent in impotence, is a stamp confirming that the Qur'an is a miracle and beyond the powers of man.

Yes, the value, superiority, and eloquence of a speech or word is apparent through knowing, "from whom it has come and to whom, and for what purpose;" the Qur'an then can have no like, and none can reach it. For the Qur'an is a speech and address of the Sustainer of all the worlds and Creator of the whole universe and a dialogue in no way hinting of imitation and artificiality. It is addressed to the one sent in the name of all men, indeed of all beings, the most famous and renowned of mankind, the strength and breadth of whose belief gave rise to mighty Islam and raised its owner to the level of the "Distance of Two Bow-strings" and returned him as the addressee of the Eternally Besought One. It describes and explains the matters concerning happiness in this world and the next, the results of the creation of the universe, and the dominical purposes within it. It expounds also the belief of the one it addresses, which was the highest and most extensive of belief and bore all the truths of Islam. It turns and shows every side of the huge universe like a map, a clock, or a house, and teaches and describes it in the manner of the Craftsman Who made them - to produce the like of this Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition is not possible; the degree of its miraculousness cannot be attained to.

Also, thousands of precise and learned scholars of high intelligence have each written commentaries expounding the Qur' an, some of which are of thirty, forty, or even seventy volumes, showing and proving through evidence and argument the innumerable qualities, fine points, characteristics, mysteries, elevated meanings, and numerous indications concerning every sort of hidden and unseen matter in the Qur'an. And the one hundred and thirty parts of the Risale-i Nur in particular, each of which proves with decisive arguments one quality, one fine point of the Qur' an. Each part of it like The Miraculousness of the Qur'an, and the Second Station of the Twentieth Word, which deduces many things from the Qur'an concerning the wonders of civilization like the railway and the aeroplane, and the First Ray, called Signs of the Qur'an, which makes known the indications of verses alluding to the Risale-i Nur and electricity, and the eight short treatises called The Eight Symbols, which show how well-ordered, full of meaning, and mysterious are the words of the Qur'an, and the small treatise proving in five aspects the miraculousness of the verses at the end of Sura

al-Fath in regard to their giving news of the Unseen - each part of the Risale-i Nur shows one truth, one light of the Qur'an. All this forms a stamp confirming that the Qur'an has no like, is a miracle and a marvel, and that it is the tongue of the World of the Unseen in the Manifest World and the Word of One All-Knowing of the Unseen.

Thus, due to these qualities and characteristics of the Qur'an indicated above in six points, six aspects, and six levels, its sublime, luminous sovereignty and sacred, mighty rule has continued with perfect splendour illuminating the faces of the centuries and the face of the earth for one thousand three hundred years. And also on account of these qualities of the Qur'an, each of its letters has gained the sacred distinction of yielding at least ten rewards, ten merits, and ten eternal fruits, and the letters of certain verses and suras yielding a hundred or a thousand fruits, or even more, and at blessed times the light, reward, and value of each letter rising from ten to hundreds. The traveller through the world understood this and said to his heart:

"The Qur'an, which is thus miraculous in every respect, through the consensus of its suras, the agreement of its verses, the accord of its lights and mysteries, and the concurrence of its fruits and works, so testifies with its evidences in the form of proofs to the existence, unity, attributes, and Names of a Single Necessarily Existent One that it is from its testimony that the endless testimony of all the believers has issued forth."

Thus, in brief allusion to the instruction in belief and divine unity that the traveller received from the Qur' an, it was said in the Seventeeth Degree of the First Station:

There is no god but God, the One and Unique Necessary Existent, to whose necessary existence in unity points the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, the book accepted and desired by all species of angel, men and jinn, whose verses are read each minute of the year, with the utmost reverence, by hundreds of millions of men, whose sacred sovereignty over the regions of the earth and the universe and the face of time is permanent, whose spiritual and luminous authority has run over half the earth and a fifth of humanity, for more than fourteen centuries, with the utmost splendour. Testimony and proof is also given by the unanimity of its sacred and heavenly suras, the agreement of its luminous, divine verses, the congruence of its mysteries and lights, the correspondence of its fruits and effects, by witnessing and clear vision.

Our traveller, our voyager through life, knew now that faith is the most

precious capital man can have, for it bestows on indigent man not some transient and ephemeral field or dwelling, but a palace, indeed an eternal kingdom as vast as the whole cosmos or the world itself. Faith also bestows on ephemeral man all he will need for life eternal; delivers from eternal annihilation wretched man who waits on the gallows for the arrival of fate; and opens to man an eternal treasury of everlasting felicity. The traveller then said to himself:

"Onward! In order to gain a further degree from among the infinite degrees of faith, let us refer to the totality of the cosmos, and listen to what it says. We will then be able to perfect and illumine the lessons we have received from its components and parts."

Looking through the broad and comprehensive telescope he had taken from the Qur'an, he saw the cosmos to be so meaningful and well-ordered that it took on the shape of an embodied book of the Glorious One, an incarnate dominical Qur'an, a finely adorned palace of the Eternally Besought One, an orderly city of the Most Merciful. All the suras, verses, and words of that book of the universe, even its very letters, chapters, divisions, pages, and lines, through their constant meaningful effacement and reaffirmation, their wise changes and alternations, gave unanimous expression to the existence and presence of One who has Knowledge of all things and Power over all things as the author of the book, of a Glorious Inscriber and a Perfect Scribe seeing all things in all things and knowing the relationship of all things with all things.

So too all the species and particles of the cosmos, all its inhabitants and contents, all that enters it and leaves it, all the providential changes and the wise processes of rejuvenation that occur in it - these proclaim in unison the existence and unity of an exalted craftsman, a peerless Maker Who sets to work with limitless power and infinite wisdom. The testimony of two great and vast truths, of a piece with the immensity of the cosmos, affirms this supreme witness of the cosmos.

FIRST TRUTH: These are the truths of createdness and contingency established with countless proofs by the gifted scholars of the principles of religion and the science of theology, as well as the sages of Islam. They said that since change and mutation are to be observed in the world and all things, the world must be ephemeral and created; it cannot be uncreated. If it is created, then there must be a Maker who created it. And if there is no cause to be found in the essence of a thing either for its being or for its nonbeing, so that these two are equally possible, that thing cannot be necessary and eternal.

It has further been proven with decisive arguments that it is not possible

for things to create each other, since that would involve the absurd and false notion of causality and never-ending causal sequences. Hence the existence of a Necessary Existence becomes necessary, whose like cannot exist, whose similitude is impossible, all other than whom is contingent and created by him.

Yes, the truth of createdness has permeated the whole of the cosmos, and many instances of it are visible to the eye; the rest can be seen only by the intellect. For in front of our eyes a whole world dies every autumn, and together with it die hundreds of thousands of different kinds of plants and small animals, each member of each species being like a small cosmos unto himself. It is, however, so orderly and disciplined a death that all things leave behind in their places seeds and eggs that in the spring shall be the means of resurrection and rebirth, miracles of mercy and wisdom, miracles of power and knowledge. They hand to the seeds and eggs their book of deeds and plan of action, entrusting them to the wisdom of the Glorious Preserver and under His protection, and only then do they die.

In spring, the dead trees, roots and animals come to life again exactly as they were, thus providing hundreds of thousands of examples, specimens and proofs of the supreme resurrection. In the place of others, plants and animals resembling them exactly are brought into being and life, thus publishing the pages of the beings of the preceding spring, together with their deeds and functions, just like an advertisement. Thus they demonstrate one meaning of the verse,

When the pages are spread out. {[*]:}

Then also, with respect to the whole, each autumn a great world dies, and each spring a fresh world comes into being. That death and creation proceed in so orderly a manner, and so many separate deaths and creations occur within them, in such orderly and regular fashion, that it is as if the world were a traveller's lodge where animate beings reside for a time, where travelling worlds and migrant realms come, fulfil their duties, and then go on their way. So there is apparent to all intellects, with the clarity of the sun, the necessary existence, infinite power and unending wisdom of a Glorious Being Who creates and brings into being in this world vital realms and purposive universes, with perfect wisdom, knowledge, and equilibrium, with balance, order and regularity, and Who then employs them for dominical purposes, divine aims and merciful goals, with full power and compassion. We leave to the Risale-i Nur and the books of the theologians the further discussion of matters related to createdness.

As for contingence, it prevails over and surrounds all of the cosmos. For we see that all things, universal or particular, big or small, from God's Throne down to the ground, from the atom to the planet, all are sent to the world with a particular essence, a specific form, a distinct identity, particular attributes, wise qualities, and beneficial organs. Now to bestow on that particular essence and quiddity its peculiarities, from amongst the infinite possibilities available; to clothe it in its specific, distinctive and appropriate form, from among the possibilities and probabilities that are as numerous as the forms that may be conceived; to distinguish that being with the identity suited to it, from among the possibilities as numerous as the other members of its species; to endow with special, suitable and beneficial attributes the created object that is formless and hesitant midst the possibilities and probabilities that are as numerous as the varieties of attribute and degree; to affix to that aimless creature, perplexed and distraught amidst the innumerable possibilities and probabilities that result from the infinitude of conceivable paths and modalities - to affix to it wise qualities and beneficial organs and equip it with them - all of these are indications, proofs, and affirmations to the number of the innumerable possibilities of the necessary existence, infinite power and unlimited wisdom of the Necessary Existent who creates, chooses, specifies, and distinguishes the quiddity and identity, the form and shape, the attribute and situation of all contingent beings, whether they be universals or particulars.

They indicate, too, that no object and no matter is hidden from Him, that nothing is difficult for Him, that the greatest task is as easy for Him as the smallest, that He can create a spring as easily as a tree, and a tree as easily as a seed. All this, then, pertains to the truth of contingence, and forms one wing of the great testimony borne by the cosmos.

Since the testimony of the cosmos, with its two wings and two truths, is fully established and explained in various parts of the Risale-i Nur, and particularly the Twenty-Second and Thirty-Second Words, as well as the Twentieth and Thirty-Third Letters, we refer our readers to those writings, and cut short an extremely long story.

SECOND TRUTH: As for the Second Truth that proceeds from the total scheme of the cosmos, which is also the second wing of its great and universal testimony, it is as follows:

There is to be seen a truth of co-operation among these beings that are attempting to maintain their existence, and if they are animate, their life, and fulfil their functions in the midst of constantly stirring changes and revolutions, a truth that lies far beyond their capacities.

For example, the elements hasten to aid animate beings; the clouds to

help the vegetable kingdom; the vegetable kingdom, to help the animal kingdom; the animal kingdom, to help the human kingdom. Milk gushes forth from the breast, like the spring of Paradise, to succour the infant; the fact that animate beings are given their needs and sustenance in a manner that transcends their capacity, from unexpected places; the replenishing of the cells of the body with particles of food, through their being subjugated by their Sustainer and their employment at His merciful hands - all of these and numerous other examples of the truth of co-operation demonstrate the universal and compassionate dominicality of the Sustainer of All the Worlds, who administers the cosmos like a palace.

Solid, inanimate and unfeeling objects, that nonetheless co-operate with each other in a sensitive and conscious fashion, must of necessity be caused to rush to each other's aid by the power, mercy, and command of a Compassionate, Wise, and Glorious Sustainer.

The universal co-operation visible throughout the cosmos; the comprehensive equilibrium and all-embracing preservation prevailing with the utmost regularity in all things, from the planets to the members, limbs and bodily particles of animate beings; the adorning whose pen ranges over the gilded face of the heavens, the decorated face of the earth, and the delicate faces of flowers; the ordering that prevails over all things, from the Milky Way and solar system down to fruits such as corn and pomegranates; the assigning of duties to all things, from the sun and the moon, the elements and the clouds, down to honey-bees - all of these great truths offer a testimony of proportionate greatness, and their testimony forms the second wing of the testimony offered by the cosmos.

Since the Risale-i Nur has established and clarified this great testimony, we will content ourselves here with this brief indication.

In brief allusion to the lesson of faith learned by our traveller from the cosmos, we said in the Eighteenth Degree of the First Station:

There is no god but God, the Necessary Existent, the like of whom cannot exist, other than whom all things are contingent, the One, the Unique, to the necessity of whose existence in unity points the cosmos, the great book incarnate, the supreme Qur'an personified, the ornate and orderly palace, the splendid and well-arranged city, with all of its suras, verses, letters, chapters, parts, pages, and lines, with the agreement of its fundaments, species, parts and particles, its inhabitants and contents, what enters it and what leaves it; with the testimony of the sublimity of the comprehensiveness of the truth of createdness, change and contingency; with the consensus of all scholars of the science of theology;

with the testimony of the truth of the changing of its form and its contents, with wisdom and regularity, and the renewal of its letters and words with discipline and equilibrium; and with the testimony of the sublimity of the comprehensiveness of the truth of co-operation, mutual response and solidarity, reciprocal care, balance and preservation, among all its beings, as is to be clearly observed.

Then the ardent and inquisitive traveller, who was seeking the Creator of the world, had advanced by gaining knowledge of God indirectly through eighteen degrees and approached, at the end of an ascension in belief to the throne of truth, a station where in the presence of God, he addressed Him directly. He said to his own spirit:

"In the noble opening sura of the Qur'an, the verses that extend from the beginning to the word iyyâka (You alone) are like a form of praise and encomium uttered indirectly; but the word iyyâka signifies a coming into His presence and addressing Him directly. So too we should abandon this indirect seeking and ask for the object of search from the object of our search. For one must ask the sun, that shows all things, concerning the sun, since that which shows all things will show itself even more clearly. Just as we perceive and know the sun by its rays, so too we can strive to know our Creator, in accordance with our capacities, through His most beautiful names and sacred attributes."

We will set forth here, with the utmost brevity and concision, two of the countless paths that lead to this goal; two of the infinite degrees of those two paths; and two of the abundant truths and details of those two degrees.

THE FIRST TRUTH: There appears visible to our eye a comprehensive, permanent, orderly and awesome truth, one that changes, transforms, and renews all beings in heaven and on earth, with imperious and incessant activity. Within the truth of that in every way wise activity, there is immediately perceived the truth of the manifestation of dominicality, and in turn, within the truth of that in every way merciful manifestation of dominicality, is recognizable the truth of the epiphany of divinity.

From this continuous, wise and imperious activity, the deeds of an All-Powerful and All-Knowing Doer can be discerned, as if from behind a veil. And from behind the veil of these nurturing and administering deeds of dominicality, the divine names, manifest in all things, can be immediately perceived. Then behind the veil of the beautiful names, manifest with glory and beauty, can be deduced the existence and reality of the seven sacred attributes, according to the testimony of all creation, in a life-giving, powerful,

knowledgeable, all-hearing, all-seeing, volitional and speech-endowed form, there appears to the eye of faith in the heart, self-evidently, necessarily, and with full certainty, the existence of a Necessary Existent that is described by these attributes, a Single One of Unity known by these Names, a Peerless and Eternal Doer, in a form more evidential and brilliant than the sun.

For a beautiful and profound book necessarily presupposes the act of writing and a well-built house presupposes the act of building; and the acts of writing beautifully and building well presuppose the names of writer and builder; and the titles of writer and builder obviously imply the arts and attributes of writing and building; and these arts and attributes self- evidently necessitate one who will be qualified by the names and attributes, and be the artist and craftsman. For just as it is impossible for there to be a deed without a doer, or a name without one designated by the name, so too it is not possible for there to be an attribute without one qualified by the attribute, and for there to be a craft without a craftsman.

On the basis, then, of this truth and principle, the universe with all the beings it contains resembles a collection of profound books and letters written by the pen of divine determining, and countless buildings and palaces constructed with the hammer of divine power. Each of these singly in thousands of ways and together in uncountable ways utters the following testimony:

These innumerable dominical and merciful deeds, and the endless manifestations of the thousand and one divine names which are the source of the deeds, and the infinite manifestations of the seven transcendent attributes which are the source of the beautiful names, in endless and infinite ways point to and testify to the necessary existence and unity of an All-Glorious Essence which is the source of those all-embracing, sacred seven attributes and is qualified by them. And so too all the instances of beauty, loveliness, perfection, and exquisiteness found in those beings self-evidently testify all together to the sacred beauties and perfections of the dominical deeds, and the divine names, and attributes, and qualities, which are fitting and worthy of them, and to the sacred beauty of the Most Pure and Holy Essence.

So the truth of dominicality that manifests itself within the truth of activity reveals and makes itself known in qualities and acts such as creating, originating, fashioning and bringing into being, with knowledge and wisdom; determining, forming, administering and changing with regularity and balance; transforming, causing to descend and perfecting, with purpose and will; and feeding, nurturing, and bestowing generosity and bounty,

with tenderness and mercy. And within the truth of the manifestation of dominicality, the truth of the immediately perceived revelation of divinity makes itself known and recognized through the compassionate and munificent manifestations of the beautiful names and through the glorious and beauteous manifestations of the seven affirmative attributes: Life, Knowledge, Power, Will, Hearing, Sight, and Speech.

Just as the attribute of Speech makes the Most Sacred Essence known through revelation and inspiration, so too the attribute of Power makes the Essence known through its skilled works and effects, each of which is like a word assuming external shape. Presenting the cosmos from end to end under the aspect of an incarnate book of discernment, it describes and makes known a Powerful Possessor of Glory.

As for the attribute of Knowledge, it makes known a single Most Sacred Essence, through each of the wise, well-ordered and balanced objects of creation, through each creature administered, directed, adorned, and made distinct by God's Knowledge.

As for the attribute of Life, it is proven not only by its own evidences, but also by all the works that proclaim God's Power, by all the well-ordered, wise, balanced and adorned forms and states that indicate God's Knowledge, as well as by all proofs of all other attributes. Thus Life, showing as witnesses all animate beings, which act as mirrors reflecting those abundant proofs, makes known an Eternally Living and Self-Subsistent Essence.

It is also this attribute that constantly changes the cosmos, in order to produce in it ever-fresh and various manifestations and designs, and turns it into a supreme mirror composed of countless smaller mirrors. Similarly, the attributes of Seeing and Hearing, Willing and Speaking, each reveal and make known the Most Sacred Essence, just as the cosmos does.

Then, too, just as the attributes point to the existence of the Possessor of Glory, they also indicate in most manifest fashion the existence and reality of life, and the livingness and permanence of that Essence. For Knowing is a sign of Life; Hearing is an indication of Life; Seeing belongs only to the living; Will takes place only with Life. Purposive Power is found only in living beings, and Speech is a task for those endowed with Knowledge and Life.

It follows from the foregoing that the attribute of Life has proofs seven times as numerous as the cosmos, and evidences that proclaim its existence and the existence of the One whom it qualifies. Thus it comes to be the foundation and source of the attributes, the origin and support of the supreme name. Since the Risale-i Nur establishes this first truth with powerful

proofs and clarifies it, we will content ourselves now with a drop from this ocean.

THE SECOND TRUTH: Divine discourse, which proceeds from the attribute of Speech.

Were the sea to become ink for the words of my Sustainer... {[*]:}

According to the inner sense of this verse, divine discourse is infinite. The clearest sign demonstrating the existence of a being is his speech. This truth, therefore, constitutes an infinite testimony to the existence and unity of the Pre-Eternal Speaker. Since two powerful evidences of this truth are revelation and inspiration, set forth in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Degrees of this treatise; another broad proof is provided by sacred and heavenly Books, as indicated in the Tenth Degree; and a further most brilliant and comprehensive proof is furnished by the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, as discussed in the Seventeenth Degree - for all these reasons we refer our readers to those Degrees for the exposition and affirmation of this truth. Enough for us and for our traveller, who was unable to proceed beyond this point, are the lights and mysteries contained in the sublime verse that proclaims this truth in miraculous fashion and adds it own testimony to all of the preceding ones:

God bears witness that there is no god but He, as do the angels and the possessors of knowledge; steadfast in equity; there is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise! {[*]:}

In allusion to the core of the lesson learned by our traveller at this sacred Station, we said, in the Nineteenth Degree of the First Station:

There is no god but God, the Necessary Existent, the One, the Unique; His are the beautiful names, His are the supreme attributes, and His is the most sublime similitude. To His necessary existence in unity points the necessarily existent Essence, with the consensus of all its sacred and comprehensive attributes and all of its beautiful names, manifested according to the consensus of His dominant qualities and deeds. By the testimony of the sublimity of the truth of the self-revelation of divinity in the manifestation of dominicality, in the permanence of imperious activity through the act of bringing into being, creating, making and originating, in will and in power; and through the act of determining, forming and regulating, in choice and in wisdom; through the act of expending, preserving, ordering, administering, and nurturing in purposiveness

and mercy, in complete order and equilibrium; as too by the testimony of the sublimity of the comprehensiveness of the truth of the mysteries of the verse: God bears witness that there is no god but He, as do the angels and the possessors of knowledge; steadfast in equity; there is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise!

The Second Proof

[This Word consists of three Stopping-Places. It is an addendum explaining the Eighth Flash of the Twenty-Second Word, and is also a commentary on the first of the fifty-five tongues with which all the beings in the universe testify to divine unity. These tongues have been alluded to in my treatise called Katre (A Droplet). It is one truth, which has been clothed in the garment of comparison, of many truths pertaining to the verse: «Had there been in heaven or on earth any deities other than God, there surely would have been confusion in both.» {[*]:} ]

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

Had there been in heaven or on earth any deities other than God, there surely would have been confusion in both.

There is no god but God, He is One, He has no partner; His is the dominion and His is the praise; He grants life and deals death, and 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.

One night in Ramadan, I said that the above sentence affirming divine unity consists of eleven phrases, and that in each of them is a degree expressing that unity and some good news. But of those degrees I only discussed the meaning and significance of «He has no partner,» and that was in the manner of an allegorical conversation and imaginary debate that would be accessible to ordinary people. I am now writing down that conversation at the request and desire of my much-valued brothers who assist me and my friends from the mosque. It is as follows.

Let us suppose one person represents all those things set up as partners to God that all the different varieties of idolators imagine to exist. These idolators are the people of unbelief and misguidance, who worship nature and causes, for example, and assign partners to God. The fictitious person

wants to have mastery over one of the beings in the universe, and so claims to be its true owner.

Firstly, that maker of false claims encountered a particle, which is the smallest of those beings, and he spoke to it in the language of naturalism and philosophy saying that he was to be its master and true owner. But the particle replied to him with the tongue of truth and dominical wisdom, saying:

"I perform innumerable duties. Entering many creatures which are all different I do my work in them. And there are, from among countless particles like me, those that move from place to place {(*):} and work with me. If you have the knowledge and power to employ me in all those duties, and the authority and ability to employ and have at your command all those others as well, and if you are able to be the true owner of and to have total control over the beings of which I become a part in complete order, for example, over red blood-corpuscles, then you can claim to be master over me and ascribe me to something other than God Almighty. But if you cannot do all these things, be silent!

"And in the same way that you cannot have mastery over me, you cannot interfere in any way. For there is such complete orderliness in our duties and motion that one who does not have infinite wisdom and all-encompassing knowledge cannot meddle with us. If he did, it would cause chaos. However, a person like you who is thick, impotent, and unseeing, and is in the clutches of blind chance and nature, could not even begin to stretch out a finger to interfere."

So, just like the materialists, the one making these claims said: "In that case, own yourself. Why do you say you are working on someone else's account?" To which the particle replied:

"If I had a brain like the sun, and all-embracing knowledge like its light, and all-encompassing power like its heat, and comprehensive senses like the seven colours in its light, and if I had a face that looked to all the places in which I travel and all the beings in which I work, and an eye that looked

to them and words that carried authority with them, then perhaps I would indulge in foolishness like you and claim to own myself. Get out! Go away! You won't get anything out of me!"

So, when the representative of those things held to be God's partners despaired of the particle, he hoped to pursue the matter with a red blood-corpuscle. And coming across one he said to it on behalf of causes and in the language of nature and philosophy: "I am your master and owner." And the red corpuscle replied to him through the tongue of truth and divine wisdom:

"I am not alone. If you are able to own all my fellows in the army of blood whose stamp, nature as officials, and order is the same, and if you have subtle wisdom and mighty power enough to own all the cells of the body in which we travel and are employed with perfect wisdom, and if you can demonstrate this to be the case, then perhaps some meaning might be found in your claim.

"But someone stupified like yourself cannot be owner with your only support being deaf nature and blind force; indeed, you are unable to interfere in so much as an atom, For the order with which we function is so perfect that only one who sees, hears, knows, and does everything can have authority over us." And saying: "So, be silent! My duty is so important and the order so perfect that I have no time to answer garbled rubbish such as yours," it repelled him.

Then, since he was unable to mislead it, the representative left and next came across the little house known as a cell of the body. He said to it in the language of philosophy and nature: "I could not persuade the particle and red corpuscle but perhaps you will be reasonable. Since you have been made of several substances just like a minute house, I am able to make you. You will be my artefact and true property." The cell responded to him through the tongue of wisdom and truth, saying:

"I am only a minute little thing but I have very important duties and very sensitive relations; I am connected to the body as a whole as well as to all its cells. For example, I perform complex and faultless duties in the veins; and in regard to the arteries, the sensory and motor nerves, the powers of attraction and repulsion and procreation, and the imaginative faculty. If you have the knowledge and power to form, arrange, and employ the whole body and all its blood-vessels, nerves and faculties, and if you have comprehensive wisdom and penetrating power with which to control all the body's cells, which are like me, as regards qualities and artistry we are brothers, demonstrate it. Only then can you claim to be able to make me. If you cannot, then off with you!

"The red corpuscles bring my food, while the white ones combat illnesses which attack me. I have work to do, do not distract me! Anyway, an impotent, lifeless, deaf and blind thing like you cannot in any way interfere with us. For we have such an exact, subtle and faultless order

The All-Wise Maker has created the human body as though it was a well-arranged city. A number of the blood-vessels perform the duties of telephones and telegraphs, while others of them are like pipes from a fountain through which blood, which is the water of life, flows. As for blood, created within it are two sorts of corpuscles. One of them, known as red corpuscles, distributes nutrients to the cells of the body; it conveys sustenance to the cells according to a divine law. (Like merchants and food officials.) The other sort are white corpuscles, which are fewer in number than the former. Their duty, like soldiers, is defence against enemies, such as illness. Whenever they undertake that defence, with their two revolutions like Mevlevi dervishes, they take on a swift and wonderful state. As for blood as a whole, it has two general duties; the first is to repair damage done to the body's cells and the second is to collect any waste-matter from the cells and to clean the body. There are two sorts of blood- vessels, veins and arteries. One of these carry purified blood, they are the channels through which clean blood is conveyed. The others are the channels for the turbid blood which collects the waste-matter; these convey the blood to where breathing occurs; that is, the lungs.

The All-Wise Maker created in the air two elements, nitrogen and oxygen. As for oxygen, when it comes into contact with the blood in breathing, it draws to itself, like amber, the impure element, carbon, which is polluting the blood. The two combine and are transformed into matter called carbonic acid gas. Oxygen also maintains the body temperature, and purifies the blood. This is because, in the science of chemistry, the All-Wise Maker bestowed on oxygen and carbon an intense relationship, which might be described as chemical passion, whereby, according to this divine law, when those two elements come close to each other, they combine. It has been established by science that heat is produced by combining, because it is a sort of combustion.

The wisdom in this is as follows: the motion of the particles of those two elements is different. On combining, the particles of one element unite with those of the other, each two particles thereafter moving with a single motion. One motion remains suspended, because before combining there were two motions; now two particles have become one. Each pair of particles has acquired a motion like a single particle. The other motion is transformed into heat according to a law of the All-Wise Maker. As a matter of a fact, 'motion produces heat' is an established principle.

Thus, in consequence of this fact, by this chemical combination, as carbon is removed from the blood the body temperature of human beings is maintained and at the same time the blood is purified. On inhaling, oxygen both cleanses the body's water of life and kindles the fire of life. On exhaling, it yields, in the mouth, the fruit of words, which are miracles of divine Power.

GLORY BE UNTO HIM AT WHOSE ART THE MIND IS BEWILDERED.

that if the one who has authority over us was not Absolutely Wise, Absolutely Powerful and Absolutely Knowing, our order would be broken and our regularity spoilt."

Then the one making the claims despaired of it, too. He encountered the body of a human being and said to it, once again as the Naturalists say, in the language of blind nature and aimless philosophy: "You are mine, it is I who made you; or anyway I have a share in you." The human body

answered with the tongue of reality and wisdom and through the eloquence of its order:

"If you possess the power and knowledge to have actual control over the bodies of all human beings, who are the same as me and on whose faces are the stamp of power and seal of creation which are the same, and if you have the wealth and jurisdiction to own, from water and air to plants and animals, the treasuries of my sustenance, and if you have infinite power and boundless wisdom with which to employ me with perfect wisdom and cause me to perform my worship, and the power and wisdom to lodge in a narrow, lowly vessel like me immaterial and subtle faculties like the spirit, heart, and intellect, which are extremely vast and exalted and for which I am merely the sheath, then demonstrate all these and afterwards say that you made me. Otherwise, be silent!

"Moreover, according to the testimony of the perfect order in my body and the indication of the stamp of unity on my face, my Maker is One who is powerful over all things, knows all things, and sees and hears all things. Someone aimless and impotent like you cannot meddle in His art. You cannot interfere in so much as an atom."

The representative of the things imagined to be God's partners could find no way in which to interfere in the body so he went off. Next, he encountered the human race and said to himself "This is a disorganized and unruly group. Perhaps, like Satan interferes in their individual and social actions which they perform through the exercise of their wills, I'll be able to find some way to interfere in the functioning of their bodies and natures. And then, finding some way, I'll be able to exercise control over the body and the body's cell which sent me packing."

So, he said to the human race, once again in the language of deaf nature and aimless philosophy: "You seem to be to be in great confusion. I am your master and owner, or at least I partly own you." To which the human race answered through the tongue of truth and reality, wisdom and order:

"If you possess the power and wisdom to make the shirt that clothes the whole globe of the earth and is woven and sewn with perfect wisdom from the multicoloured threads of all the hundreds of thousands of animal and plant species, of which we are one, and to make the carpet which is spread over the face of the earth and is woven from the hundreds of thousands of species of animate beings and is created in an extremely fine and ornamented fashion, and to continuously renew and refurbish it, and if you possess comprehensive power and all-embracing wisdom with which to have free disposal over the globe of the earth of which we are the fruit, and over the universe of which we are the seed, and to send us our vital necessities

from all the regions of the cosmos with the balance of wisdom, and if you have the ability to create all those like us who have gone before us and those who will come after us, on whose faces the stamp of power is the same, then, perhaps, you can claim to have mastery over me.

"But if you cannot, be silent! Do not say that, seeing confusion in my species, you will be able to interfere in some way, because the order is faultless. The conditions you imagine to be confused and disorderly are transcribed with perfect order according to the book of power and divine determining. For the perfect order in animals and plants, which are far inferior to us and are under our supervision, demonstrates that this seeming dis- order in us is but a sort of writing.

"Is it at all possible that the one who artistically positions one thread running through a whole carpet should be other than the master designer of the carpet; or that the one who creates a fruit should be other than the creator of the tree that bore it; or that the one who creates the seed should be other than the fashioner of the being that produced the seed?

"Also your eyes are blind: you do not see the miracles of power on my face, the wonders of creation in my being. If you did see them, you would understand that my Maker is such that nothing at all can withstand Him or be difficult for Him. The stars are as easy for Him as particles. He creates the spring with as much ease as a flower. He is One who includes the index of the vast universe in my being with perfect order. Could a lifeless, impotent, blind and deaf thing like you interfere in any way in the art of such a Being? So, be silent!" And saying: "Off with you! Go away!" he drove him away.

Next the one making these claims went and addressed the broad carpet covering the face of the earth and the lavishly decorated and embroidered shirt clothing it on behalf of causes and in the language of nature and philosophy, claiming: "I can have control over you and be your owner, or at least have a share in you." So the shirt, the carpet, {(*):} said to him on behalf of truth and reality and through the tongue of wisdom:

"If you have the power and art to weave and create all the well-ordered and purposeful shirts and carpets, whose embroideries are all different, which have clothed the earth to the number of years and centuries, then have been removed in an orderly fashion and strung on the line of past time, and will clothe the earth again, carpets and shirts whose programmes and forms have been drawn and specified in the sphere of divine determining,

and which will be attached to the ribbon of future time, and if you have two wise and powerful hands with which to reach from the creation of the world to its destruction, indeed, from pre-eternity to post-eternity, and if you have the wisdom and ability to create every one of all my threads and to repair and renew them with perfect order and wisdom, and if you are able to hold in your hand and create the globe, which is our model and is wearing us, making us its veil and outer garment, then you can claim to have mastery over me. If you cannot, then away with you! There is no place for you here!

"Moreover, there is on us such a stamp of unity and seal of oneness that one who does not have the whole universe within the grasp of his power, and who cannot see at one time all things with all their functions, and cannot do innumerable things at the same time, who is not all-present and all-seeing everywhere, who is not unconfined by space, and who does not possess infinite wisdom, knowledge, and power, such a one cannot own us, neither could he interfere."

So the representative went off, saying: "Perhaps I will be able to persuade the globe of the earth and find something going for me there." So he went and said to the globe, {(*):} once again on behalf of causes and in the language of nature: "Since you travel in such an aimless manner, you demonstrate that you have no owner. In which case, you can be mine." To which the earth replied in a thunderous voice, in the name of truth and with the tongue of reality:

"Do not talk such utter nonsense! How could I be just aimless and without an owner? Have you found my garments or even the tiniest point or thread in them to be in disarray, without order, and have you seen them to be without wisdom, purpose and art that you tell me I am ownerless and aimless?

"If you can really own my vast orbit round which I travel in one year, a distance that should take approximately twenty-five thousand years, {(*):} where

I perform my duty of service with perfect balance and wisdom, and own the ten planets, which are my brothers and are charged with duties like myself, together with the space through which they travel, and if you have infinite wisdom and power with which to create and position the sun, which is our leader and to which we are bound and attached by a compassionate attraction, and to fasten me and the other planets to it like stones in a sling, and to employ us and cause us to revolve with perfect order and wisdom, then you can claim to have mastery over me. But if you cannot, get out! Go to Hell! I've got work to do, my duty to perform.

"Moreover, our magnificent order, awesome movement, and purposeful subjugation demonstrate that our Master is such that all beings from minute particles to the stars and galaxies are obedient and subjugated to him like soldiers under orders. He is an All-Wise Possessor of Glory, a Possessor of Absolute Sovereignty who arrays the sun with planets as easily as He arrays and ornaments a tree with its fruit."

Since the claimer could find nothing for himself on the earth, he went off and said to himself about the sun: "This a huge great thing. Perhaps I'll be able to find a hole in it and open up a way in; then maybe I'll be able to subjugate it as well as the earth." So he said to the sun, as the fire-worshippers speak, in the name of idolatry and in the language of the philosophy that is the mouthpiece of the Devil: "You are a ruler, you own yourself; you dispose of matters freely, as you wish." But the sun replied to him in the name of truth and through the tongue of reality and divine wisdom, saying:

"God forbid! A hundred thousand times, God forbid! I am a subservient official. I am a candelabrum in my Lord's guesthouse. I am not the true owner of a fly, or even of a fly's wing. For in the fly's being there are immaterial jewels and antique works of art, like eyes and ears, such as are not in my shop. They are outside the sphere of my power," thus reprimanding him.

So the one making the claims changed his approach and said with the tongue of devilish philosophy: "Since you do not own yourself, you are a servant; I claim you on behalf of causes." To which the sun replied, speaking for truth and reality and with the tongue of worship:

"I can only belong to one who is able to create all the lofty stars, which are my fellows, to place them in the heavens with faultless wisdom, make them revolve with utter magnificence and to adorn them with exquisite finery."

Next the claimer said to himself: "The stars are a great multitude, and they seem to be all scattered and in disorder. Perhaps I will be able to gain

something out of them on behalf of my clients." So he went in among them and said to them on behalf of causes and those things ascribed to God as partners, in the language of rebellious philosophy and as the Sabean star-worshippers said: "Since you are so scattered, you are all under the jurisdiction of different rulers." To which one star replied, speaking for all the others:

"Just how stunned, brainless, stupid and blind you are not to see and understand the stamp of unity and seal of oneness on us, and not to recognize our lofty order and regularity and the laws of our worship. You imagine us to be without order. But we are the works of art and servants of a Single and Unique One who holds in the grasp of His power the heavens, which are our seas, the cosmos, which is our tree, and infinite space, which is where we make our excursions.

"We are electric illuminations and resplendent witnesses displaying the perfection of His dominicality. We are radiant proofs proclaiming the sovereignty of His dominicality. With all our different sorts, we are luminous servants in the domain of His sovereignty which give light and display the majesty of that sovereignty in the lofty dwellings and in the lowly ones, in the dwellings of this world, the Intermediate World and the hereafter.

"Indeed, each of us is a miracle of the Single and Unique One's power, a well-ordered fruit of the tree of creation, an illuminated proof of unity; each of us is a dwelling place, aeroplane and mosque for the angels, and a lamp and sun for the lofty worlds, and a witness to the sovereignty of dominicality; and each of us is an ornament, palace, and flower of space, and a shining fish in the heavenly seas, and a beautiful eye in the face of the sky.

{(*):}

"Furthermore, throughout us as a whole there is a silence within tranquillity, a motion within wisdom, an adornment within majesty, a beauty of creation within order, and a perfection of art within symmetry.

"And although we are thus and proclaim our Glorious Maker and His unity, oneness, eternal besoughtedness, and His attributes of beauty, glory and perfection to the whole universe with innumerable tongues, you still accuse us utterly pure, clean, obedient and subservient servants of being confused, disorderly, and without duties, and even of being without an owner. You therefore deserve a truly punishing slap."

And one star, like the stone hurled at Satan, delivered such a mighty slap at the claimer's face that it flung him from the stars to the very pit of Hell. And it cast nature, {(*):} which was together with him, into the valleys of delusion, and chance into the chasm of non-existence, and those things ascribed to God as partners into the darkness of impossibility, and the philosophy that is hostile to religion down to the lowest of the low. All the stars recited this sacred decree together with that star:

Had there been in heaven or earth any deities other than God, there surely would have been confusion in both. {[*]:}

And they proclaimed: "There is nothing, from a fly's wing to the lamps in the heavens, nothing, even the size of a fly's wing, in which those things ascribed to God as partners could interfere."

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise! {[*]:}

O God! Grant blessings and peace to our master Muhammad, the Lamp of Your Unity in the multiplicity of Your creatures, and the Herald of Your Oneness in the exhibition of Your creation, and to all his Family and Companions.

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

Look, then, to the signs of God's mercy, how He restores to life the earth after its death. {[*]:}

The following section {[*]:} alludes to one flower from the pre-eternal garden of the above verse.

It is as if all the blossoming trees are beautifully composed odes speaking poetically through the tongue of disposition reciting the manifest praises of the Glorious Creator.

Or, it is as if all the blossoming trees have opened thousands of gazing eyes and have caused thousands of others to open in order to behold, not with one or two eyes but with thousands, the Glorious Fashioner's wonders of art which are being broadcast and exhibited, and so that attentive people will gaze on them, too.

Or, it is as if all the blossoming trees have beautified their verdant limbs with the finest adornment for the moment of their parade and for their own particular festivals in the general festival of spring, so that their Glorious Monarch will contemplate the gifts, subtle wonders, and resplendent works of art He has bestowed upon them; and so that He will present to creation's gaze the bejewelled instances of His mercy, in springtime, and on the face of the earth, which is the exhibition of divine art; and so that He will proclaim to mankind the wisdom in the creation of the tree.

He demonstrates the perfection of divine power through showing what important treasure hangs on their delicate branches and what significant wealth there is in the fruits of His merciful bounties.

The imagination sees heavenly angels embodied from these trees With thousands of flutes.

From these flutes the consciousness hears The praises of the Ever-Living One.

Their leaves have tongues, each reciting the word: It is He! It is He!

Meaning,

O Ever-Living One! O Ever-Living One!

Since all things chant in unison: There is no god but He,

And they are seeking Truth,

From beginning to end they recite: O Ever-Living One!

They are chanting in unison: O God!

And We send down from the skies water rich in blessings. {[*]:}

A Short Addendum to the First Stopping-Place

Listen to the verse:

Do they not look at the sky above them? How We have made it and adorned it, and there are no flaws in it? {[*]:}

Then look at the face of the heavens, you see how it is silent in its tranquillity; how it is in motion with wisdom, how it is radiant with majesty, how it smiles with its adornment. An unending and infinite sovereignty is proclaimed to those who think by the order in its creation, by the symmetry in its art, by its shining lamps, its brilliant lanterns, its glittering stars.

Do they not look at the sky above them? How We have made it and adorned it, and there are no flaws in it?

The following explains the above passage, Then look at the face of the heavens, etc., which in turn is an explanation of the verse quoted.

Firstly, the phrase: How it is silent in its tranquillity.

The verse directs an attentive gaze to the beautifully adorned face of the heavens so that the one beholding it may become aware of the silence there which is within a vast tranquillity, and so that he may understand that it is thus through the command and subjugation of One Possessing Absolute Power.

For if they had been independent and unrestrained, those huge globes, all in close proximity to each other, those infinite, awesome heavenly bodies, would have caused such an uproar with their enormously swift revolutions that they would have deafened the cosmos. And there would have been such confusion in that tumultuous commotion that it would have scattered the universe. It is well-known what a commotion and uproar it causes if twenty water-buffalo work on top of each other. Whereas, we know that there are among the stars some which are thousands of times larger than the earth and which revolve at a speed seventy times faster than that of a cannon-ball. So the degree of power and subjugation of the Glorious Maker and All-Powerful One of Perfection may be understood from this, together with the degree of obedience and submission to Him of the stars.

Secondly, the phrase: How it is in motion with wisdom,

The verse commands us to look at the motion on the face of the heavens, which is with wisdom and purpose. Indeed, that mighty, wondrous motion occurs within a precise and comprehensive wisdom.

For example, a craftsman who operates a factory's machinery with wisdom and purpose demonstrates the degree of his skill and craftsmanship in proportion to the order and grandeur of the factory. Similarly, when we look at it in this way, the degree of power and wisdom of the All-Powerful One of Glory become apparent to us through His making the mighty sun as a factory, and its planets, those awesome, immense globes, like the factory's machinery, and His spinning and revolving them like stones in a sling.

Thirdly, How it is radiant with majesty, how it smiles with its adornment.

It has this meaning: the radiant majesty and smiling adornment on the face of the heavens are such that they demonstrate the sublimity of the Glorious Maker's sovereignty and exquisiteness of His artistry. As the myriad electric lamps hung about on festival days demonstrate the degree of the king's majesty and achievement in material progress, the vast heavens, too, with their majestic and adorned stars demonstrate to attentive gazes the sublime sovereignty and exquisite artistry of the Glorious Maker.

Fourthly, By the order in its creation, by the symmetry in its art.

This phrase says the following: look at the order of the creatures on the face of the heavens and see their symmetry and precise balance, then understand just how powerful and wise is their Maker.

Indeed, the vast heavens demonstrate the degree of power and wisdom of the One who transforms various and tiny creatures or animals, thus preparing them for their duties, and who impels each of them on a determined way by means of its particular balance, and the degree of their obedience and subjugation to Him. Similarly, the vast heavens demonstrate to attentive gazes through their awesome vastness and innumerable stars, and the stars, through their imposing hugeness and speedy revolutions and the fact that they do not exceed their bounds by an iota, even for a second, or neglect their duties for a tenth of a second, the exceedingly fine and particular balance with which the Glorious Maker carries out His dominicality.

Fifthly, An unending and infinite sovereignty is proclaimed to those who think by its shining lamps, its brilliant lanterns, its glittering stars.

This phrase states clearly what is alluded to in the above verse, and in

many similar to it, which mention the subjugation of the sun, moon, and stars. That is to say, to attach the heat and light-giving lamp of the sun to the embellished ceiling of the skies, and to make it the ink-pot for writing the missives of the Eternally Besought One in lines of day and night on the pages of summer and winter; and to make the moon, like the hour-hands which shines on the large clocks on minarets and towers, an hour-hand of time's mighty clock on the dome of the heavens, and to make it move through its mansions with precise balance and perfect measure in the form of many varying crescents so that it leaves one crescent one night and then later returns to collect it; and to adorn the beautiful face of the sky with stars that twinkle and smile in the dome of the heavens, all these are signs of the unlimited sovereignty of a sustaining dominicality. They are indications of a majestic divinity which makes Itself known to conscious creatures. They invite those who think to believe and to affirm divine unity.

Look upon the coloured page of the book of the universe;

See what forms the golden pen of power has traced.

No dark point remains for the gaze of the heart's eye;

It is as if God as inscribed His signs with light.

Look! What a miracle of wisdom is the amazing universe!

Look! What a wondrous spectacle is the vastness of space!

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,

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

We are witnesses both to 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 which 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,

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.

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 Third Proof The Twenty-Third Flash

[First written as the Sixteenth Note of the Seventeenth Flash, this part of the Risale-i Nur was later designated the Twenty-Third Flash because of its importance. For it puts Naturalistic atheism to death with no chance of reanimation, and totally shatters the foundation stones of unbelief.]

This treatise explains through nine 'Impossibilities,' themselves comprising at least ninety impossibilities, just how unreasonable, crude and superstitious is the way taken by those Naturalists who are atheists. In order to cut short the discussion here and because these impossibilities have been explained in part in other sections of the Risale-i Nur, some steps in the arguments have been skipped. It occurs to one, therefore, how is it that those famous and supposedly brilliant philosophers accepted such a blatantly obvious superstition, and continue to pursue that way. Well, the fact is they cannot see its reality. And I am ready to explain in detail and prove through clear and decisive arguments to whoever doubts it that these crude, repugnant and unreasonable impossibilities are the necessary and unavoidable result of their way; in fact, the very gist of their creed.

{(*):}

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

Their prophets said: "Is there any doubt about God, Creator of the heavens and the earth?" {[*]:}

By declaring through the use of a rhetorical question that there cannot and should not be any doubt about God Almighty, this verse clearly demonstrates the divine existence and unity.

When I went to Ankara in 1922, the morale of the people of belief was extremely high as a result of the victory of the army of Islam over the Greeks. But I saw that an abominable current of atheism was treacherously trying to subvert, poison and destroy their minds. "O God!" I said, "this monster is going to harm the fundamentals of belief." At that point, since the above-mentioned verse makes self-evidently plain God's existence and unity, I sought assistance from it and wrote a treatise in Arabic consisting of a proof taken from the All-Wise Qur'an that was powerful enough to disperse and destroy that atheistic current. I had it printed in Ankara at the Yeni Gün Press. But, alas, those who knew Arabic were few and those who considered it seriously were rare. Also, its argument was in an extremely concise and abbreviated form. As a result, the treatise did not have the effect it should have done and sadly, the current of atheism both swelled and gained strength. Now, I feel compelled to explain a part of the proof in Turkish. Since certain parts of it have been fully explained in other sections of the Risale-i Nur, it will be written in summary form here. Those numerous proofs in part unite in this proof; so each may be seen as an element of this proof.

Introduction

O man! You should be aware that there are certain phrases which are commonly used and imply unbelief. The believers also use them, but without realizing their implications. We shall explain three of the most important of them.

The First: "Causes create this."

The Second: "It forms itself; it comes into existence and later ceases to exist."

The Third: "It is natural; nature necessitates and creates it."

Indeed, since beings exist and this cannot be denied, and since each being comes into existence in a wise and artistic fashion, and since each is not outside time but is being continuously renewed, then, O falsifier of the truth, you are bound to say either that the causes in the world create beings, for example, this animal; that is to say, it comes into existence through the coming together of causes, or that it forms itself, or that its coming into existence is a requirement and necessary effect of nature, or that it is created through the power of One All-Powerful and All-Glorious. Since reason can find no way apart from these four, if the first three are definitely

proved to be impossible, invalid and absurd, the way of divine unity, which is the fourth way, will necessarily and self-evidently and without doubt or suspicion, be proved true.

THE FIRST WAY

This to imagine that the formation and existence of things, creatures, occurs through the coming together of causes in the universe. We shall mention only three of its numerous impossibilities.

First Impossibility

Imagine there is a pharmacy in which are found hundreds of jars and phials filled with quite different substances. A living potion and a living remedy are required from those medicaments. So we go to the pharmacy and see that they are to be found there in abundance, yet in great variety. We examine each of the potions and see that the ingredients have been taken in varying but precise amounts from each of the jars and phials, one ounce from this, three from that, seven from the next, and so on. If one ounce too much or too little had been taken, the potion would not have been living and would not have displayed its special quality. Next, we study the living remedy. Again, the ingredients have been taken from the jars in a particular measure so that if even the most minute amount too much or too little had been taken, the remedy would have lost its special property.

Now, although the jars number more than fifty, the ingredients have been taken from each according to measures and amounts that are all different. Is it in any way possible or probable that the phials and jars should have been knocked over by a strange coincidence or sudden gust of wind and that only the precise, though different, amounts that had been taken from each of them should have been spilt, and then arranged themselves and come together to form the remedy? Is there anything more superstitious, impossible and absurd than this? If an ass could speak, it would say: "I cannot accept this idea!" , and would gallop off!

Similarly, each living being may be likened to the living potion in the comparison, and each plant to a living remedy. For they are composed of matter that has been taken in most precise measure from truly numerous and truly various substances. If these are attributed to causes and the elements and it is claimed, "Causes created these," it is unreasonable, impossible and absurd a hundred times over, just as it was to claim that the potion in the pharmacy came into existence through the phials being knocked over; by accident,

In Short: The vital substances in this vast pharmacy of the universe, which are measured on the scales of divine determining and decree of the All-Wise and Pre-Eternal One, can only come into existence through a boundless wisdom, infinite knowledge and all-encompassing will. The unfortunate person who declares that they are the work of blind, deaf and innumerable elements and causes and natures, which stream like floods; and the foolish, delirious person who claims that that wondrous remedy poured itself out when the phials were knocked over and formed itself, are certainly unreasonable and nonsensical. Indeed, such denial and unbelief is a senseless absurdity.

Second Impossibility

If everything is not attributed to the All-Powerful and All-Glorious One, who is the Single One of Unity, and is attributed to causes, it necessitates that many of the elements and causes present in the universe intervene in the being of every animate creature. Whereas that different and mutually opposing and conflicting causes should come together of their own accord in complete order, with the finest balance and in perfect concord in the being of a tiny creature, like a fly, is such an obvious impossibility that anyone with even an iota of consciousness would say: "This is impossible; it could not be!"

The tiny body of a fly is connected with most of the elements and causes in the universe; indeed, it is a summary of them. If it is not attributed to the Pre-Eternal and All-Powerful One, it is necessary for those material causes to be themselves present in the immediate vicinity of the fly; rather, for them all to enter into its tiny body; and even for them to enter each of the cells of its eyes, which are minute samples of its body. For if a cause is of a material nature, it is necessary for it to be present in the immediate vicinity of, and inside, its effect. And this necessitates accepting that the constituents and elements of the universe are physically present inside that minute cell, a place too small even for the tip of its antenna, and that they work there in harmony like a master.

A way such as this, then, shames even the most foolish of the Sophists.

Third Impossibility

It is an established rule that, "If a being has unity, it can only have issued from a single being, from one hand." Particularly if it displays a comprehensive life within a perfect order and sensitive balance, it demonstrates self-evidently that it did not issue from numerous hands, which are the cause of conflict and confusion, but that it issued from a single hand that is All-Powerful and All-Wise. Therefore, to attribute such a well-

ordered and well-balanced being which has unity to the jumbled hands of innumerable, lifeless, ignorant, aggressive, unconscious, chaotic, blind and deaf natural causes, the blindness and deafness of which increase with their coming together and intermingling among the ways of numberless possibilities, is as unreasonable as accepting innumerable impossibilities all at once. If we leave this impossibility aside and assume that material causes have effects, these effects can only occur through direct contact and touch. However, the contact of natural causes is with the exteriors of living beings. And yet we see that the interiors of such beings, where the hands of material causes can neither reach nor touch, are ten times more delicate, well-ordered and perfect as regards art than their exteriors. Therefore, although tiny animate creatures, on which the hands and organs of material causes can in no way be situated, indeed they cannot touch the creatures' exteriors all at once even, are more strange and wonderful as regards their art and creation than the largest creatures, to attribute them to those lifeless, unknowing, crude, distant, vast, conflicting, deaf and blind causes can result only from a deafness and blindness compounded to the number of animate beings.

THE SECOND WAY

This is expressed by the phrase "It forms itself." It too involves many impossibilities and is absurd and impossible in many aspects. We shall explain three examples of these impossibilities.

First Impossibility

O you obstinate denier! Your egotism has made you so stupid that somehow you decide to accept a hundred impossibilities all at once. For you yourself are a being and not some simple substance that is inanimate and unchanging. You resemble an extremely well-ordered machine that is constantly being renewed and a wonderful palace that is undergoing continuous change. Particles are working unceasingly in your body. Your body has a connection and mutual relations with the universe, in particular with regard to sustenance and the perpetuation of the species, and the particles that work within it are careful not to spoil that relationship nor to break the connection. In this cautious manner they set about their work, as though taking the whole universe into account. Seeing your relationships within it, they take up their positions accordingly, And you benefit with your external and inner senses in accordance with the wonderful positions that they take.

If you do not accept that the particles in your body are tiny officials in

motion in accordance with the law of the Pre-Eternal and All-Powerful One, or that they are an army, or the nibs of the pen of divine determining, with each particle as the nib of a pen, or that they are points inscribed by the pen of power with each particle being a point, then in every particle working in your eye there would have to be an eye such as could see every limb and part of your body as well as the entire universe, with which you are connected. In addition to this, you would have to ascribe to each particle an intelligence equivalent to that of a hundred geniuses, sufficient to know and recognize all your past and your future, and your forbears and descendants, the origins of all the elements of your being, and the sources of all your sustenance.

To attribute the knowledge and consciousness of a thousand Plato's to a single particle of one such as you who does not possess even a particle's worth of intelligence in matters of this kind is a crazy superstition a thousand times over!

Second Impossibility

Your being resembles a thousand-domed wondrous palace in which the stones stand together in suspension and without support. Indeed, your being is a thousand times more wonderful than such a palace, for the palace of your being is being renewed continuously in perfect order. Leaving aside your truly wonderful spirit, heart and other subtle faculties, each member of your body resembles a single-domed part of the palace. Like the stones of a dome, the particles stand together in perfect balance and order demonstrating the eye and the tongue, for example, each to be a wondrous building, extraordinary work of art, and miracle of power.

If these particles were not each officials dependent on the command of the master architect of the universe, then each particle would have to be both absolutely dominant over all the other particles in the body and absolutely subordinate to each of them; and both equal to each and, with regard to its dominant position, opposed; and both the origin and source of most of the attributes that pertain only to the Necessarily Existent One, and extremely restricted; and both in absolute form, and in the form of a perfectly ordered individual artefact that could only, through the mystery of unity, be the work of the Single One of Unity.

Anyone with even a particle of intelligence would understand what an obvious impossibility this is; to attribute such an artefact to those particles.

Third Impossibility

If your being is not 'written' by the pen of the Pre-Eternal and All-Powerful One, who is the Single One of Unity, and is instead 'printed' by

nature and causes, there would have to be printing-blocks in nature not only to the number of cells in your body, but to the number of their thousands of combinations, which are arranged in concentric circles. For if this book for example which we hold in our hand is written, a single pen may write it relying on the knowledge of its writer. If, on the other hand, it is not written and is not attributed to its writer's pen, and if it is said that it exists of its own accord or it is ascribed to nature, then, as a printed book, it would be necessary for there to be a different iron pen for each letter so that it could be printed. In a printing-press there have to be pieces of type to the number of letters in the alphabet so the letters in the book come into existence by means of them; pens to the number of those letters being necessary in place of a single pen.

As may be seen, sometimes a whole page is written in a single large letter from among those letters with a small pen in fine script, in which case a thousand pens would be necessary for one letter. Rather, if it took the form of your body, with all its components one within the other in concentric circles, there would have to be printing-blocks in each circle, for each component, to the number of the combinations that they form.

Now, see, if you claim this, which involves a hundred impossibilities, to be possible, then again if they are not attributed to a single pen, for those well-ordered, artistic pieces of type, faultless printing-blocks and iron pens to be made, further pens, printing-blocks and letters to the same number as themselves would be necessary. And they too would have to have been made; and they too would have to have been well-ordered and artistically fashioned. And so on. It would carry on in succession ad infinitum.

There, you too understand! This way of thinking is such that it involves impossibilites and superstitions to the number of particles in your body. O denier of God! See this, and quit the way of misguidance!

THE THIRD WAY

"Nature necessitates it; nature makes it." This statement contains many impossibilities. We shall mention three of them by way of examples.

First Impossibility

If the art and creativity, which are discerning and wise, to be seen in beings and particularly in animate beings are not attributed to the pen of divine determining and power of the Pre-Eternal Sun, and instead are attributed to nature and force, which are blind, deaf and unthinking, it becomes necessary that nature either should have present in everything machines and printing-presses for their creation, or should include in everything

power and wisdom enough to create and administer the universe. The reason for this is as follows:

The sun's manifestations and reflections appear in all small fragments of glass and droplets on the face of the earth. If those miniature, reflected imaginary suns are not ascribed to the sun in the sky, it is necessary to accept the external existence of an actual sun in every tiny fragment of glass smaller than a match-head, which possesses the sun's qualities and which, though small in size, bears profound meaning; and therefore to accept actual suns to the number of pieces of glass.

In exactly the same way, if beings and animate creatures are not attributed directly to the manifestation of the Pre-Eternal Sun's names, one has to accept that in each being, and especially animate beings, there lies a nature, a force, or quite simply a god that will sustain an infinite power and will, and knowledge and wisdom. Such an idea is the most absurd and superstitious of all the impossibilities in the universe. It demonstrates that a man who attributes the art of the Creator of the universe to imaginary, insignificant, unconscious nature is without a doubt less conscious of the truth than an animal.

Second Impossibility

If beings, which are most well-ordered and well-measured, wise and artistically fashioned, are not ascribed to One who is infinitely powerful and wise and instead are attributed to nature, there has to be present in every bit of soil as many factories and printing-presses as there are in Europe so that each bit of soil can be the means for the growth and formation of innumerable flowers and fruits, of which it is the place of origin and workshop. The seeds of flowers are sown in turn in a bowl of soil, which performs the duty of a flower-pot for them. An ability is apparent in the bowl of soil that will give shapes and forms which differ greatly from one another to all the flowers sown in it. If that ability is not attributed to the All-Glorious and All-Powerful One, such a situation could not occur with- out there being in the bowlful of soil immaterial, different and natural machines for each flower.

This is because the matter of which seeds, like sperm and eggs for example, consists is the same. That is, they consist of an orderless, formless, paste-like mixture of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen. Together with this, since air, water, heat and light also are each simple, unconscious and flow against everything in floods, the fact that the all-different forms of those flowers emerge from the soil in a most well-ordered and artistic fashion self-evidently and necessarily requires that

there are present in the soil in the bowl immaterial, min٦ٰ؟ure printing-presses and factories to the number of presses and factories in Europe so that they could weave this great number of living fabrics and thousands of various embroidered textiles.

So you can see how far the unbelieving thought of the Naturalists has deviated from the realm of reason. And although brainless pretenders who imagine nature to be creator claim to be men of science and reason, see just how distant from reason and science is their thought, so that they have taken a superstition that is in no way possible, that is impossible, as a way for themselves. See this and laugh at them!

If you ask: If such extraordinary impossibilities and insurmountable difficulties occur when beings are attributed to nature, how are those difficulties removed when they are attributed to the Single and Eternally Besought One? And how is the difficult impossibility transformed into that easy necessity?

The Answer: We saw in the First Impossibility that the manifestation of the sun's reflection displays its radiance and effect through miniature imaginary suns with total ease and lack of trouble in everything from the minutest inanimate particle to the surface of the vastest ocean. If each particle's relationship with the sun is severed, it becomes necessary to accept that the external existence of an actual sun could subsist, with a difficulty at the level of impossibility, in each of those minute particles.

Similarly, if each being is ascribed directly to the Single and Eternally Besought One, everything necessary for each being can be conveyed to it through a connection and manifestation with an ease and facility that is at the level of necessity. If the connection is severed and each being reverts from its position as an official to being without duties, and is left to nature and its own devices, it becomes necessary to suppose that, with a hundred thousand difficulties and obstacles that reach the degree of impossibility, blind nature possesses within it a power and wisdom with which to create and administer the universe so that it might bring into existence the wonderful machine of the being of an animate creature like a fly, which is a tiny index of the universe. This is impossible not just once but thousands of times over.

In Short: Just as it is impossible and precluded for the Necessarily Existent One to have any partner or like in respect of His Essence, so too is the interference of others in His dominicality and in His creation of beings impossible and precluded.

As for the difficulties involved in the Second Impossibility, as is proved in many parts of the Risale-i Nur, if all things are attributed to the Single

One of Unity, all things become as easy and trouble-free as a single thing. Whereas if they are attributed to causes and nature, a single thing becomes as difficult as all things. This has been demonstrated with numerous, decisive proofs and a summary of one of them is as follows.

If a man is connected to the king by being a soldier or an official, by reason of the strength of the connection he may perform duties far exceeding his individual strength. He may, on occasion, capture another king in the name of his own king, For he himself does not carry the equipment and sources of strength necessary to carry out the duties and work he performs, nor is he compelled to do so. By reason of the connection, the king's treasuries, and the army, which is behind him and is his point of support, carry his equipment and sources of strength. That is to say, the duties he performs may be as grand as the business of a king, and as tremendous as the actions of an army.

Indeed, through being an official, an ant destroyed Pharaoh's palace; through the connection, a fly killed Nimrod off; and through the connection, the seed of a pine the size of a grain of wheat produces all the parts of a huge pine-tree.

{(*):}

If the connection is severed and the man discharged from his duties as an official, he will be compelled to carry the equipment and sources of strength necessary for his work himself. He will then only be able to perform duties commensurate with the sources of strength and ammunition he is able to carry. If he is required in this situation to carry out his duties with the extreme ease of the first situation, it will be necessary to load on his back the sources of an army's strength and the arsenals and munitions factories of a king. Even clowns who invent stories and superstitions to make people laugh would be ashamed at this fanciful idea.

In Short: To attribute all beings to the Necessarily Existent One is so easy as to be necessary, while to attribute their creation to nature is so difficult as to be impossible and outside the realm of reason.

Third Impossibility

The following two comparisons, which are included in other parts of the Risale-i Nur, explain this impossibility.

A wild savage entered a palace which had been built in an empty desert and completed and adorned with all the fruits of civilization. He cast an eye over its interior and saw thousands of orderly and artistically fashioned objects. Out of his boorishness and lack of intelligence, he said: "No one from outside had a hand in this, one of the objects from inside must have made this palace together with all of its contents and he started to investigate. But it did not appear possible even to his untaught intelligence that anything he looked at could have made those things.

Later, he saw a notebook in which had been written the plan and programme of the palace's construction, an index of its contents and the rules of its administration. For sure, the notebook too, which was without hand, eye, or implement, like the rest of the objects in the palace, was completely lacking the ability to construct and decorate the palace. But since he saw that in comparison with all the other things, the notebook was related to the whole palace by reason of its including all its theoretical laws, he was obliged to say: "There, it is this notebook that has organized, ordered and adorned the palace, and has fashioned all these objects and set them in their places." He transformed his uncouthness into ludicrous jabber.

Thus, exactly like this comparison, a boor who subscribed to Naturalist thought, which denies God, entered the palace of the universe, which is infinitely more well-ordered, more perfect and everywhere full of miracuIous instances of wisdom than the palace in the comparison. Not thinking that it was the work of art of the Necessarily Existent One, who is outside the sphere of contingency, and shunning that idea, he saw a collection of the laws of divine practice and an index of dominical art, which are like a slate for writing and erasing of divine determining in the sphere of contingency, and like a constantly changing notebook for the laws of the functioning of divine power, and are extremely mistakenly and erroneously given the name 'nature' , and he said:

"These things require a cause and nothing else appears to have the relationship with everything that this notebook has. It is true that reason will in no way accept that this unseeing, unconscious and powerless notebook could carry out this creation, which is the work of an absolute dominicality and requires infinite power. But since I do not recognize the Eternal Maker, the most plausible explanation is to say the notebook made it, and makes it, so I shall say that." To which we reply:

You mistaken unfortunate! Your foolishness exceeds anything imaginable! Lift your head out of the swamp of nature and look beyond yourself! See an All-Glorious Maker to whom all beings from particles to planets testify with their different tongues and to whom they point with their fingers!

Behold the manifestation of the Pre-Eternal Inscriber, who fashions the palace and who writes its programme in the notebook! Study His decree, listen to the Qur'an! Be delivered from your delirious raving!

Second Comparison: A rustic bumpkin entered the bounds of a splendid palace and saw there the uniform actions of an extremely well-disciplined army carrying out its drill. He observed a battalion, a regiment and a division stand to attention, stand at ease and march, and open fire when commanded as though they were a single private. Since his rude, uncultured mind could not comprehend, so denied, that a commander had been given command by the country's laws and by royal decree, he imagined that the soldiers were attached to one another with strings. He thought of what wonderful string it must be, and was amazed.

Later, he continued on his way till he came upon a mosque as magnificent as Aya Sophia. He entered it at the time of Friday prayer and watched the congregation of Muslims rising, bowing, prostrating and sitting at the sound of man's voice. Since he did not understand the Shari'a, which consists of a collection of immaterial, revealed laws, nor the immaterial rules proceeding from the Lawgiver's command, he fancied the congregation to be bound to one another by physical string, and that this wonderful string had subjected them and was making them move like puppets. Coming up with this idea, which is so ridiculous as to make the most ignorant roar with laughter, he went on his way.

Exactly like this comparison, an atheist who subscribed to materialist thought, which is denial and pure brutishness, entered the universe, which is a splendid barracks of the Monarch of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity for His innumerable forces, and a well-ordered mosque of that Pre-Eternal All-Worshipped One. He imagined the immaterial laws of the ordering of the universe, which proceed from the Pre-Eternal Monarch's wisdom, each to have material and physical existence; and supposed the theoretical laws of the sovereignty of dominicality, and the rules and ordinances of the Greater Shari'a, the Shari'a of Creation, which are immaterial and exist only as knowledge, each to have external, material and physical existence. But to set up in place of divine power those laws, which proceed from the divine attributes of knowledge and speech and only exist as knowledge, and to attribute creation to them; then to attach the name 'nature' to them, and to deem force, which is merely a manifestation of dominical power, to be an independent almighty possessor of power, is a thousand times more low-fallen ignorance than the ignorance in the comparison.

In Short: The imaginary and insubstantial thing that Naturalists call nature, if it has an external reality, can at the very most be work of art; it

cannot be the Artist. It is an embroidery, and cannot be the Embroiderer. It is a set of decrees; it cannot be the Issuer of the decrees. It is a body of the laws of creation, and cannot be the Lawgiver. It is but a created screen to the dignity of God, and cannot be the Creator. It is passive and created, and cannot be a Creative Maker. It is a law, not a power, and cannot possess power. It is the recipient, and cannot be the source.

To Conclude: Since beings exist, and as was stated at the beginning of this treatise, reason cannot think of a way to explain the existence of beings apart from the four mentioned, three of which were decisively proved through three clear Impossibilities to be invalid and absurd, then necessarily and self-evidently the way of divine unity, which is the fourth way, is proved in a conclusive manner. The fourth way, in accordance with the verse quoted at the beginning:

Is there any doubt about God, Creator of the heavens and the earth? {[*]:}

demonstrates clearly so that there can be no doubt or hesitation the divinity of the Necessarily Existent One, and that all things issue directly from the hand of His power, and that the heavens and the earth are under His sway.

O you unfortunate worshipper of causes and nature! Since the nature of each thing, like all things, is created, for it is full of art and is being constantly renewed, and, like the effect, the apparent cause of each thing is also created; and since for each thing to exist there is need for much equipment and many tools; there must exist a Possessor of Absolute Power who creates the nature and brings the cause into existence. And that Absolutely Powerful One is in no need of impotent intermediaries to share in His dominicality and creation. God forbid! He creates cause and effect together directly. In order to demonstrate His wisdom and the manifestation of His names, by establishing an apparent causal relationship and connection through order and sequence, He makes causes and nature a veil to the hand of His power so that the apparent faults, severities and defects in things should be ascribed to them, and in this way His dignity be preserved.

Is it easier for a watch-maker to make the cog-wheels of a clock, and then arrange them and put them in order to form the clock? Or is it easier for him to make a wonderful machine in each of the cog-wheels, and then leave the making of the clock to the lifeless hands of those machines? Is that not beyond the bounds of possibility? Come on, you judge with your unfair reason, and say!

And is it easier for a scribe to collect ink, pen and paper, and then using them proceed to write out a book himself? Or is it easier for him to create in the paper, pen and ink a writing-machine that requires more art and trouble than the book, and can be used only for that book, and then tell the unconscious machine: "Come on, you write it!" and himself not interfere? Is that not a hundred times more difficult than writing it himself?

If you say: Yes, it is a hundred times more difficult to create a machine that writes a book rather than writing it out oneself. But is it not in a way easier, because the machine is a means of producing numerous copies of the same book?

The Answer: Through His limitless power, the Pre-Eternal Inscriber continuously renews the infinite manifestations of His names so as to display them in ever-differing ways. And through this constant renewal, He creates the identities and special features in things in such a manner that no missive of the Eternally Besought One or dominical book can be the same as any other book. In any case, each will have different features in order to express different meanings.

If you have eyes, look at the human face: you will see that from the time of Adam until today, indeed, until post-eternity, together with the conformity of their essential organs, each face has a distinguishing mark in relation to all the other faces; this is a definite fact. Therefore, each face may be thought of as a different book. Only, for the artwork to be set out, different writing-sets, arrangements, and compositions are required. And in order to both collect and situate the materials, and to include everything necessary for the existence of each, a completely different workshop will be required.

Now, knowing it to be impossible, we thought of nature as a printing-press. But apart from the composition and printing, which concern the printing-press, that is, setting up the type in a specific order, the substances that form an animate being's body, the creation of which is a hundred times more difficult than that of the composition and ordering, must be created in specific proportions and particular order, brought from the furthest corners of the cosmos, and placed in the hands of the printing-press. But in order to do all these things, there is still need for the power and will of the Absolutely Powerful One, who creates the printing-press. That is to say, this hypothesis of the printing-press is a totally meaningless superstition.

Thus, like the comparisons of the clock and the book, the All-Glorious Maker, who is powerful over all things, has created causes, and so too does He create the effects. Through His wisdom, He ties the effect to the cause. Through His will, He has determined a manifestation of the Greater

Shari'a, the Shari'a of Creation, which consists of the divine laws concerning the ordering of all motion in the universe, and determined the nature of beings, which is only to be a mirror to that manifestation in things, and to be a reflection of it. And through His power, He has created the face of that nature which has received external existence, and has created things on that nature, and has mixed them one with the other.

Is it easier to accept this fact, which is the conclusion of innumerable most rational proofs - in fact, is one not compelled to accept it? - or is it easier to get the physical beings that you call causes and nature, which are lifeless, unconscious, created, fashioned and simple, to provide the numberless tools and equipment necessary for the existence of each thing and to carry out those matters, which are performed wisely and discerningly? Is that not utterly beyond the bounds of possibility? We leave it to you to decide, with your unreasonable mind!

The unbelieving nature-worshipper replied: "Since you are asking me to be fair and reasonable, I have to confess that the mistaken way I have followed up to now is both a compounded impossibility, and extremely harmful and ugly. Anyone with even a grain of intelligence would understand from your analyses above that to attribute the act of creation to causes and nature is precluded and impossible, and that to attribute all things directly to the Necessarily Existent One is imperative and necessary. I say: 'ALL PRAISE BE TO GOD FOR BELIEF,' and I believe in Him. only, I do have one doubt:

"I believe that Almighty God is the Creator, but what harm does it do to the sovereignty of His dominicality if some minor causes have a hand in the creation of insignificant matters and thereby gain for themselves a little praise and acclaim? Does it diminish His sovereignty in some way?"

The Answer: As we have conclusively proved in other parts of the Risale-i Nur, the mark of rulership is its rejection of interference. The most insignificant ruler or official will not tolerate the interference of his own son, even, within the sphere of his rule. The fact that, despite being Caliph, certain devout Sultans had their innocent sons murdered on the unfounded apprehension that the sons would interfere in their rule demonstrates how fundamental is this law of the rejection of interference in rulership. And the law of prevention of participation, which the independence intrinsic to rulership necessitates, has shown its strength in the history of mankind through extraordinary upheavals whenever there have been two governors in a town or two kings in a country.

If the sense of rulership and sovereignty, which is a mere shadow in human beings, who are impotent and in need of assistance, rejects interference

to this degree, prevents the intervention of others, does not accept participation in its sovereignty, and seeks to preserve the independence of its position so jealously, if you can, compare this with an All-Glorious One whose absolute sovereignty is at the degree of dominicality, whose absolute rulership at the degree of divinity, absolute independence at the degree of oneness, and absolute lack of need at the degree of absolute power, and understand what a necessary requirement and inevitable necessity of that rulership is this rejection of interference, prevention of participation, and repulsion of partners.

Concerning the second part of your doubt, you said: "If some of the worship of some insignificant beings is directed towards certain causes, does this cause any deficiency in the worship of all beings, from particles to planets, which is directed towards the Necessarily Existent One, the Absolute Object of All Worship?"

The Answer: The All-Wise Creator of the universe made the universe like a tree with conscious beings as its most perfect fruit, and among conscious beings He made man its most comprehensive fruit. And man's most important fruit, indeed the result of his creation, the aim of his nature, and the fruit of his life are his thanks and worship. Would that Absolute Sovereign and Independent Ruler, that Single One of Unity, who creates the universe in order to make Himself known and loved, give away to others man, the fruit of the whole universe, and man's thanks and worship, his most elevated fruit? Totally contrary to His wisdom, would He make vain and futile the result of creation and fruit of the universe? God forbid! Would He be content to give away the worship of creatures to others in a way that would deny His wisdom and His dominicality? And although He demonstrates through His actions that He wishes to make Himself known and loved to an unlimited degree, would he cause His most perfect creatures to forget Him by handing over to causes their thanks and gratitude, love and worship, and cause them to deny the exalted purposes in the universe?

O friend who has given up the worship of nature! Now it is for you to say! To which he replied:

"All praise be to God, these two doubts of mine have now been resolved. And your two proofs concerning divine unity which demonstrate that the only True Object of Worship is He, and that nothing other than He is worthy of worship are so brilliant and powerful that to deny them would require as much arrogance as to deny the sun and the daytime."

Conclusion

The person who gave up atheistic Naturalism and came to believe said: "All praise be to God, I no longer have any doubts, but there are still a few questions about which I am curious."

FIRST QUESTION

"We hear many lazy people and those who neglect the five daily prayers ask: 'What need has God Almighty of our worship that in the Qur'an He severely and insistently reproves those who give up worship and threatens them with so fearsome a punishment as Hell? How is it in keeping with the style of the Qur'an, which is moderate, mild and fair, to demonstrate the ultimate severity towards an insignificant, minor fault?"

The Answer: God Almighty has no need of your worship, nor indeed of anything else. It is you who needs to worship, for in truth you are sick. As we have proved in many parts of the Risale-i Nur, worship is a sort of remedy for your spiritual wounds. You can understand how absurd it would be if an ill person responds to a kindly doctor who insists on his taking medicines that are beneficial for his condition by saying: "What need do you have of it that you are insisting in this way?"

As for the severe threats and fearsome punishments in the Qur'an concerning the giving up of worship, they may be likened to a king who in order to protect his subject' rights, inflicts a severe punishment on an ordinary man in accordance with the degree that his crime infringes those rights.

In the same way, the man who gives up worship and ritual prayer is violating in a significant manner the rights of beings, who are like the subjects of the Monarch of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity, and is in fact acting unjustly towards them. For the perfections of beings are manifested through the glorification and worship performed by that aspect of them which is directed towards their Maker, The one who abandons worship does not and cannot see this worship. Indeed, he denies it. Furthermore, beings occupy an exalted position by reason of their worship and glorification, and each is a missive of the Eternally Besought One, and a mirror to its Sustainer's names. Since he reduces them from their high positions and considers them to be unimportant, lifeless, aimless, and without duties, he is insulting them, and denying and transgressing their perfections.

Indeed, everyone sees the world in his own mirror. God Almighty created man as a measure and scale for the universe. And from the world

He gave a particular world to each person. This world He colours for him in accordance with his sincere beliefs. For example, a despairing, lamenting, weeping person sees beings as weeping and in despair, while a cheerful, optimistic, merry person sees the universe as joyful and smiling. A reflective man given to solemn worship and glorification discovers and sees to a degree the certain, truly existent worship and glorification of beings, while a person who abandons worship through either neglect or denial sees beings in a manner totally contrary and opposed to the reality of their perfections and so trangresses their rights.

Furthermore, since the person who gives up prayer does not own himself, he wrongs his own soul, which is a slave of its True Owner. His Owner delivers awesome threats in order to protect His slave's rights from his evil-commanding soul. Also, since he has given up worship, which is the result of his creation and aim of his nature, it is an act of aggression against divine wisdom and dominical will, and he therefore receives punishment,

In Short: The abandoner of worship both wrongs his own soul, which is the slave and totally owned property of Almighty God, and wrongs and transgresses the rights of the universe's perfections. Certainly, just as unbelief is an insult to beings, so is the abandonment of worship a denial of those perfections. And since it is an act of aggression against divine wisdom, it is deserving of awesome threats and severe punishment.

Thus, it is to express this deservedness and the above facts that the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition chooses in a miraculous way that severe style, which, in complete conformity with the principles of eloquence, corresponds to the requirements of the situation.

SECOND QUESTION

The person who gave up Naturalism and came to believe next asked:

"It is indeed a vast truth that each being is dependent on divine will and dominical power in every aspect; in all of its functions, qualities and actions. Our narrow minds cannot comprehend this because of its vastness. However, the infinite abundance that we see around us, and the boundless ease in the creation and formation of things, and the infinite ease and facility in the way of unity, which was established through your proofs above, and the infinite ease that verses of the Qur'an like the following clearly demonstrate and expound,

Your creation and resurrection is as a single soul. {[*]:}

and,

The matter of the Hour shall be but as the twinkling of the eye, or even closer {[*]:}

show this mighty truth to be a matter that is most acceptable and rational. What is the wisdom and secret of this ease?"

The Answer: This matter was elucidated in a most clear, decisive and convincing fashion in the explanation of, «And He is powerful over all things,» which forms the Tenth Phrase of the Twentieth Letter. And it was demonstrated even more clearly in the Addendum to that letter that when attributed to the Single Maker, all beings become as easy as a single being. If they are not attributed to that Single One of Unity, the creation of a single creature becomes as difficult as that of all beings, and a seed as problematical as a tree. When they are ascribed to their True Maker, the universe becomes as easy and trouble-free as a tree, a tree as easy as a seed, Paradise as easy as the spring, and the spring as easy as a flower. We shall now point out briefly one or two evidences that have been explained in detail in other parts of the Risale-i Nur out of the hundreds which explain the underlying reasons for and instances of wisdom in the conspicuous, boundless abundance and profusion of beings, the ease of the great number of individuals in each species, and the fact that well-ordered, artistically fashioned and valuable beings come into existence with immense speed and ease.

For example, if the command of a hundred soldiers is given to one officer, it is a hundred times easier than if the command of one soldier is given to a hundred officers. And if to equip an army it is assigned to one headquarters, one law, one factory and the command of one king, it quite simply becomes as easy as equipping a single soldier. In the same way, if to equip one soldier it is referred to numerous headquarters, numerous factories and numerous commanders, it becomes as difficult as equipping an army. Because in order to equip a single soldier, it would require as many factories as are necessary for a whole army.

Again, since by reason of the mystery of unity, the vital necessities of a tree are provided through one root, one centre and according to one law, it produces thousands of fruits as easily as a single fruit. This is plain to see. If unity changes to multiplicity and all the necessities vital for each fruit are provided from different places, to produce each fruit becomes as difficult as to produce the tree. And to produce a single seed, even, which is a sample and index of the tree, becomes as difficult as the tree. Because all the necessities vital for the tree's life are necessary for the seed.

There are hundreds of examples like these which show that it is easier for thousands of beings to come into existence through unity than for a single being to come into existence through multiplicity and ascribing partners to God. Since this truth has been proved with absolute certainty in other parts of the Risale-i Nur, we refer you to them and here only explain an important reason for this ease and facility from the point of view of divine knowledge, divine determining, and dominical power. It is as follows:

You are a being. If you attribute yourself to the Pre-Eternal All-Powerful One, He creates you at a command through His infinite power out of nothing in an instant, like striking a match. If you do not do this and rather attribute yourself to physical causes and nature, since you are a well-ordered summary, fruit, and miniature index and list of the universe, in order to make you, it would be necessary to sift with a fine sieve the universe and its elements, and to gather in precise measure from all the corners of the universe the substances of which your body is composed. For physical causes only gather and join together. It is confirmed by people of reason that they cannot create out of nothing what is not present in them. Since this is the case, they would be compelled to collect together the body of a tiny animate being from every corner of the cosmos.

Now understand what ease there is in unity, divine unity, and what difficulties lie in misguidance and attributing partners to God!

Secondly, there is an infinite ease also with regard to divine knowledge. It is like this: divine determining is an aspect of divine knowledge; it determines a measure for each thing, which is like its particular and immaterial mould; the determined measure is like a plan or model for the thing's being. When divine power creates, it does so with extreme ease in accordance with the determined measure. If the thing is not attributed to the All-Powerful One of Glory, who possesses all-embracing, infinite and pre-eternal knowledge, as was described above, not only thousands of difficulties appear, but hundreds of impossibilities. For if it were not for the determined measure which exists in divine knowledge, thousands of material moulds with external existences would have to be employed in the body of even a tiny animate being.

So, understand one reason for the infinite ease in unity and the endless difficulties in misguidance and ascribing partners to God. Realize what a veracious, correct, and exalted truth is stated by the verse,

The matter of the Hour shall be but as the twinkling of the eye, or even closer.

THIRD QUESTION

The former enemy and now rightly-guided friend then asked: "Philosophers, who have made many advances these days, claim that nothing is created out of nothing, and nothing is annihilated and goes to nothing; there is only compostion and decomposition, and this makes the factory of the universe run. Is this correct?"

The Answer: Since the most advanced philosophers who did not consider beings in the light of the Qur'an saw that the formation and existence of beings by means of nature and causes was so difficult as to be impossible - in the manner proved above, they diverged into two groups.

One group became Sophists; abdicating reason, which is exclusive to human beings, and falling lower than mindless beasts, they found it easier to deny the universe's existence, and even their own existences, than to follow the way of misguidance, which claims that causes and nature have the power to create. They therefore denied both themselves and the universe and descended into absolute ignorance.

The second group saw that in misguidance, according to which causes and nature are creator, the creation of a fly or a seed, even, entails innumerable difficulties and requires a power unacceptable to reason. They were therefore compelled to deny the act of creation and to say: "Nothing can exist out of nothing." Seeing total annihiliation also to be impossible, they declared: "What exists cannot go to nothing." They fancied an imaginary situation in which combining and decomposition, gathering together and dispersion, occur through the motion of particles and the winds of chance.

Now, see! Those who consider themselves to be the most intelligent are the most profoundly ignorant and stupid. Understand just how ludicrous, debased, and ignorant misguidance makes man, and take a lesson!

Indeed, a Pre-Eternal Power created the heavens and the earth in six days, every year creates four hundred thousand species simultaneously on the face of the earth, and in six weeks every spring constructs a living world more full of art and wisdom than the world itself. Thus, it is more foolish and ignorant than the Sophists, the first group above, to deny the act of creation and deem it unlikely that, like a chemical that when applied shows up invisible writing, Pre-Eternal Power should give external existence to beings, which, though externally non-existent, exist as knowledge, and whose plans and measures are determined in the realm of a Pre-Eternal Knowledge.

Those unfortunates are absolutely impotent and have nothing at their disposal apart from the faculty of will. Although they are inflated like Pharaohs,

they can neither annihilate anything nor create anything from nothing, even a minute particle. And so, although nothing comes into existence out of nothing at the hand of causes and nature on which they rely, out of their stupidity they say: "Nothing comes from non-being, and nothing goes to non-being." And they even extend this absurd and erroneous principle to the Absolutely All-Powerful One.

Indeed, the All-Powerful One of Glory has two ways of creating:

The First is through origination and invention. That is, He brings a being into existence out of nothing, out of non-existence, and creates everything necessary for it, also out of nothing, and places those necessities in its hand.

The Second is through composition, through art. That is, He forms certain beings out of the elements of the universe in order to demonstrate subtle instances of wisdom, like displaying the perfections of His wisdom and the manifestations of many of His names. Through the law of providing, he sends particles and matter, which are dependent on His command, to these beings and employs the particles in them.

Yes, the Absolutely All-Powerful One creates in two ways: He both originates and He composes. To annihilate what exists and to make exist what does not exist is most simple and easy for Him. It is one of His constant and universal laws. The man, therefore, who says: "He cannot give existence to what does not exist" in the face of a power that in one spring makes exist out of nothing the forms and attributes of three hundred thousand animate creatures, and, besides their particles, all their conditions and states, such a man should himself be obliterated!

The person who gave up nature and embraced the truth said: "Praise and thanks be to God Almighty to the number of particles in existence for I have attained to complete belief. I have been saved from delusion and misguidance. Not one of my doubts remains.

"ALL PRAISE BE TO GOD FOR THE RELIGION OF ISLAM, AND COMPLETE AND PERFECT BELIEF!"

All glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise. {[*]:}

The Fourth Proof

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

And there is not a thing but its [sources and] treasures [inexhaustible] are with Us; but We only send down thereof in due and ascertainable measures. {[*]:}

One point concerning this verse and one manifestation of the name of All-Just, which is a greatest name or one of the six lights comprising the Greatest Name, like the First Point, appeared to me from afar while in Eskişehir Prison. In order to bring it closer to the understanding, we say the following; again by means of a comparison:

The universe is a palace, but it is such a palace that within it is a city that suffers the upheavals of constant destruction and reconstruction. Within the city is a country that is being continuously agitated by war and emigration. Within the country is a world which is unceasingly revolving amid death and life. But such an astonishing balance, equilibrium and equilibration prevail in the palace, city, country and world that it self-evidently proves that the transformations, and incomings and outgoings apparent in their innumerable beings are being measured and weighed every moment on the scales of a Single Being who sees and supervises the whole universe.

For if it had been otherwise, if causes had been free and unrestrained, which try to destroy the balance and overrun everything, with a single fish laying a thousand eggs and a single flower like the poppy producing twenty thousand seeds, and with the onslaught and violence of change and the elements flowing in floods, or if it had been referred to aimless, purposeless chance, anarchic blind forces, and unconscious dark nature, the equilibrium of beings and balance of the universe would have been so utterly destroyed that within a year, indeed within a day, there would have been chaos. That

is to say, the seas would have been filled with wreckage in total disorder and confusion and would have become fetid; the atmosphere would have been poisoned with noxious gases; and as for the earth, it would have turned into a refuse-heap, slaughter-house, and swamp. The world would have suffocated.

Thus, everything from the cells of an animate body, the red and white corpuscles in the blood, the transformations of minute particles, and the mutual proportion and relation of the body's organs, to the incomings and outgoings of the seas, the income and expenditure of springs under the earth, the birth and death of animals and plants, the destruction of autumn and the reconstruction of spring, the duties and motion of the elements and the stars, and the alternations, struggles and clashes of death and life, light and darkness, and heat and cold, are ordered and weighed with so sensitive a balance, so fine a measure, that the human mind can nowhere see any waste or futility, just as human science and philosophy observe everywhere and demonstrate the most perfect order and beautiful symmetry. Indeed, human science and philosophy are a manifestation and interpreter of that order and symmetry.

So, come and consider the balance and equilibrium of the sun and its twelve planets. Does it not point as clearly as the sun to the All-Glorious One who is All-Just and All-Powerful? Especially our ship, that is, the globe of the earth, which is one of the planets; it travels an orbit of twenty-four thousand years in one year, not scattering or shaking the things stored up and stacked on its face, despite its extraordinary speed, nor throwing them off into space. If its speed had been increased or reduced just a little, it would have thrown its inhabitants off into the atmosphere, and scattered them through space. And if its balance was to be destroyed for a minute, or even a second, it would destroy the world. Indeed, it would clash with another body and doomsday would break forth.

Especially the compassionate balance on the face of the earth of the births, deaths, livelihoods, and lives of the four hundred thousand plant and animal species; it shows a single Just and Compassionate One, as clearly as light shows the sun.

Especially the members, faculties, and senses of a single of the innumerable members of those species; they are related to each other with so fine a balance and equilibrium that their balance and mutual proportion show an All-Wise and Just Maker so clearly as to be self-evident.

Especially the cells and blood-vessels in the bodies of animals, and the corpuscles in the blood and particles in the corpuscles; they have such a fine, sensitive, and wondrous balance that it self-evidently proves that they

are being nurtured and administered through the balance, law, and order of a single All-Just and Wise Creator who holds the reins of all things, has the key to all things, for whom nothing is an obstacle to anything else, and directs all things as easily as a single thing.

If someone who does not believe or deems it unlikely that the deeds of jinn and men will be weighed up on the supreme scales of justice at the Last Judgement notes carefully this vast balance, which he can observe in this world with his own eyes, he will surely no longer consider it unlikely.

O wasteful, prodigal.. wrongful, unjust.. dirty, unclean.. wretched man! You have not acted in accordance with the economy, cleanliness, and justice that are the principles by which the whole universe and all beings act, and are therefore in effect the object of their anger and disgust. On what do you rely that through your wrongdoing and disequilibrium, your wastefulness and uncleanliness, you make all beings angry? Yes, the universal wisdom of the universe, which is the greatest manifestation of the divine name of All-Wise, turns on economy and lack of waste. It commands frugality. And the total justice in the universe proceeding from the greatest manifestation of the name of All-Just, administers the balance of all things and enjoins justice on man. Mentioning the word balance four times, the verses in Sura al-Rahman,

And the firmament has He raised high, and He has set up the balance [of justice], * In order that you may not transgress [due] balance. * So establish weight with justice and fall not short in the balance {[*]:}

indicate four degrees and four sorts of balance, showing its immensity and supreme importance in the universe. Yes, just as there is no wastefulness in anything, so in nothing is there true injustice or imbalance.

The cleanliness and purification proceeding from the name of Most Holy cleans and makes beautiful all the beings in the universe. So long as man's dirty hand does not interfere, there is no true uncleanliness or ugliness in anything.

So you may understand how basic to human life are the principles of justice, frugality, and cleanliness, which are truths of the Qur'an and Islamic principles. And know how closely connected with the universe are the injunctions of the Qur'an, having spread their firm roots everywhere, and that it is as impossible to destroy those truths as it is to destroy the universe and change its form.

Is it at all possible that although hundreds of comprehensive truths like these three vast lights, such as mercy, grace, and preservation, require and necessitate the resurrection of the dead and the hereafter, such powerful and all-encompassing truths as mercy, favour, justice, wisdom, frugality, and cleanliness, which govern in the universe and all beings, should be transformed into unkindness, tyranny, lack of wisdom, wastefulness, uncleanliness, and futility, by there being no hereafter and the resurrection not occurring?

God forbid, a hundred thousand times, God forbid! Would a mercy and wisdom which compassionately preserve the rights of life of a fly violate the countless rights of life of all conscious beings and the numberless rights of numberless beings, by not bringing about the resurrection? And if one may say so, would a splendid dominicality which displays infinite sensitivity and care in its mercy and compassion and justice and wisdom, and a divine sovereignty which adorns the universe with His endless wondrous arts and bounties in order to display His perfections and make himself known and loved, permit there to be no resurrection, which would reduce to nothing the value of creatures and all their perfections, and make them denied? God forbid! Such an absolute beauty clearly would not permit such absolute ugliness.

Yes, the person who wants to deny the hereafter must first deny all the world and all its truths. Otherwise the world together with all its truths will give him the lie with a hundred thousand tongues, proving the compounded nature of his lie. The Tenth Word proves with certain evidences that the existence of the hereafter is as definite and indubitable as the existence of this world.

The Fifth Proof

Invite [all] to the way of your Sustainer with wisdom. {[*]:}

[One manifestation of the divine name of Sapient, which is a greatest name or one of the six lights of the greatest name, and a fine point of the above verse, appeared to me in the month of Ramadan while in Eskişehir Prison. This Third Point consists of five matters and is only an allusion to it. It was written in haste and has remained in its original form.]

FIRST MATTER

As is indicated in the Tenth Word, the greatest manifestation of the divine name of Sapient has made the universe like a book in every page of which hundreds of books have been written, and in every line of which hundreds of pages have been included, and in every word of which are hundreds of lines, and in each letter of which are a hundred words, and in every point of which is found a short index of the book. The book's pages and lines down to the very points show its Inscriber and Writer with such clarity that that book of the universe testifies to and proves the existence and unity of its Scribe to a degree far greater than it shows its own existence. For if a single letter shows its own existence to the extent of a letter, it shows its Scribe to the extent of a line.

Yes, one page of this mighty book is the face of the earth. Books to the number of the plant and animal species are to be observed on this page in the spring, one within the other, together, at the same time, without error, in the most perfect form.

A single line of the page is a garden. We see that written on this line are well-composed odes to the number of flowers, trees, and animals, together, one within the other, without error.

One word of the line is a tree which has opened its blossom and put forth its leaves in order to produce its fruit. This word consists of meaningful passages lauding and praising the All-Glorious Sapient One to the number of orderly, well-proportioned, adorned leaves, flowers, and fruits. It is as though like all trees, this tree is a well-composed ode singing the praises of its Inscriber.

It is also as if the All-Glorious Sapient One wants to look with thousands of eyes on His wonderful antique works displayed in the exhibition of the earth.

And it is as if the bejewelled gifts, decorations and uniforms given to the tree by that Pre-Eternal Monarch have been given such adorned, well-proportioned, orderly, meaningful and wise forms in order to present them to His view in the spring, its particular festival and parade, that each of its flowers and fruits testifies in numerous ways and with many evidences one within the other to its Inscriber's existence and names.

For example, in all its blossoms and fruits is a balance. The balance is within an order, and the order is within an ordering and balancing which is being constantly renewed. The ordering and balancing is within an art and adornment, and the adornment and art are within meaningful scents and wise tastes. Thus, each flower points to the All-Glorious Sapient One to the number of the tree's blossoms.

And in the tree, which is a word, the point of a seed in a fruit, which is like a letter, is a small coffer containing the index and programme of the whole tree. And so on. To continue the same analogy, through the manifestation of the name of Sapient and Wise, all the lines and pages of the book of the universe - and not only its lines, but all its words, letters, and points have been made as miracles so that if all causes were to gather together, they could not make the like of a single point, nor could they dispute it.

Yes, since each of the creational signs of this mighty Qur'an of the universe displays miracles to the number of points and letters of those signs, in no way could confused chance, blind force, aimless, anarchic, unconscious nature interfere in that wise, percipient particular balance and most sensitive order. If they had interfered, some traces of confusion would certainly have been apparent. Whereas no disorder of any sort is to be seen anywhere.

SECOND MATTER

First Topic: As is explained in the Tenth Word, it is a fundamental rule that infinitely perfect beauty and infinitely beautiful perfection want to behold themselves and show and exhibit themselves. In consequence

of this, in order to make Himself and His perfections known, and to display His beauty and make Himself loved the Pre-Eternal Inscriber of the mighty book of the universe makes known and loved the beauty of His perfection and perfection of His beauty with the universe and all its pages, lines and even letters and points, with the innumerable tongues of all beings from the most particular to the most universal.

O heedless man! Come to your senses! Know just what a compounded ignorance it is and what a loss if in the face of the Sapient and All-Wise Ruler of Glory and Beauty's making Himself known to you and loved by you by means of all His creatures in this brilliant, endless fashion you do not recognize Him with belief and you do not make yourself loved by Him with your worship.

The Second Topic: There is no place for partnership in the dominions of the universe's All-Powerful and Wise Maker. For the infinitely perfect order present in everything does not accept partners, Many hands intervening in a single matter confuses it. If there are two kings in a country, two governors of a town, or two headmen in a village, disorder will occur in all their affairs. Similarly, the lowest official does not accept interference in his duties, which shows that the fundamental characteristic of rulership is independence and singleness, That is to say, order necessitates unity, and rulership necessitates independence.

If a temporary shadow of rulership in impotent man needy for assistance rejects interference in this way, the true, absolute rulership at the degree of dominicality of the One who possesses absolute power will certainly reject interference with all its strength. Even the tiniest interference would spoil the order.

However, the universe has been created in such a way that to create a seed, the power to create a tree is necessary. And to create a tree, the power to create the universe is necessary. If any partner interfered in the universe, he would have to share in the tiniest seed. For the seed is a sample of the universe. So then two dominicalities which cannot reside together in the vast universe, would have to reside in a seed, and even in a minute particle. This is the most precluded and meaningless of impossibilities and false delusions. Know that unbelief and associating partners with God are an infinitely compounded contradiction, error, and falsehood, for they necessitate the impotence - even if only in a seed - of the Absolutely Powerful One who holds in the balance of His justice and order of His wisdom all the states and attributes of the vast universe; and know that divine unity is an infinitely compounded truth, reality and verity, and say: "All praise and thanks be to God for belief!"

THIRD MATTER

With His names of Sapient and All-Wise, the All-Powerful Maker has included thousands of well-ordered worlds in this world. Within those worlds, He created man as a centre and pivot who of all creatures manifests the wisdom and purposes in the universe. The most important of the instances of wisdom and beneficial things in the sphere of the universe look to man. And in the human sphere, He made sustenance a centre; in the human world most of the instances of wisdom and benefits look to sustenance and are manifest through it. The manifestation of the name of All-Wise is apparent in brilliant form in man through his intelligence and the pleasure he receives from sustenance. Each one of the hundreds of sciences discovered by human intelligence describes a manifestation of the name of Sapient in a realm of creation.

For example, if the science of medicine were to be asked: "What is the universe?" it would be bound to reply: "It is an exceedingly vast, orderly and perfect pharmacy, All remedies are prepared and stored up in it in the best way."

If the science of chemistry were asked: "What is the earth?" , it would reply: "It is a perfectly ordered chemist's shop."

The science of engineering would reply: "It is totally faultless, perfect factory."

The science of agriculture would reply: "It is an infinitely productive, regular and well-laid-out field and garden which produces all kinds of seeds at the required time."

The science of commerce would reply: "It is an extremely well-set-out exhibition, orderly market, and shop stocked with most artistic wares."

The science of economics would reply: "It is an exceedingly well- arranged warehouse containing every sort and kind of food."

The science of dietetics would reply: "It is a dominical kitchen and cauldron of the Most Merciful in which are cooked most regularly hundreds of thousands of the most delicious foods."

The science of soldiering would reply: "The earth is a military camp. Although there are four hundred thousand different nations in that army, newly taken under arms with their tents pitched on the face of the earth, they are given their rations, uniforms, weapons, training, and discharges, which are different for each nation, in perfect order, with no confusion and none being forgotten, through the command, power, compassion of a single Commander-in-Chief, from His treasury; they are all administered in the most regular fashion."

And if the science of electricity were to be asked: "What is this world?", it would certainly reply: "The roof of this magnificent palace of the universe has been adorned with innumerable orderly and balanced electric lamps, and the order and balance are so wondrous that foremost the sun, and those heavenly lamps which are a thousand times larger than the earth, do not spoil their balance, although they burn continuously; they do not explode or burst into flames, Their expenditure is endless, so where do their income and fuel and combustible material come from? Why are they not exhausted? Why is the balance not spoilt with their burning? A small lamp goes out if it is not tended regularly. See the wisdom and power of the All-Wise One of Glory, who makes the sun, which according to astronomy is a million times larger than the earth and a million years older, {(*):} burn without coal or oil, without being extinguished; say: 'All Glory be to God!' Say: 'What wonders God has willed! Blessed be God! There is no god but He!' to the number of seconds of the sun's existence.

"This means there is a wondrous order in these heavenly lamps, and they are tended with the greatest care. It is as if the boiler of those huge, numerous fiery masses, those light-shedding lamps, is a Hell whose heat is never exhausted; it provides them with lightless heat. While the machinery and central factory of those electric lamps is a perpetual Paradise; it provides them with light and luminosity; through the greatest manifestation of the names of Sapient and All-Wise, they continue to burn in orderly fashion."

And so on; through the certain testimony of hundreds of sciences like these, the universe has been adorned with innumerable instances of wisdom, purposes, and beneficial things within a faultless, perfect order. And the order and wisdom given through that wondrous, all-encompassing wisdom to the totality of the universe have been included in small measure in seeds and the tiniest living creatures. It is clear and self-evident that aims, purposes, instances of wisdom, and benefits can only be followed through choice, will, intention, and volition, not in any other way. Neither could they be the work of unconscious causes and nature, which lack will, choice, and purpose, nor could they interfere in them.

That is to say, it is extraordinary ignorance and foolishness not to recognize

or to deny the All-Wise Maker, the Agent with Choice, whom the universe and all its beings necessitate and demonstrate through their infinite order and the instances of wisdom they contain. Yes, if there is anything astonishing in the world, it is such denial. For the endless aspects of order and instances of wisdom in the beings in the universe testify to His existence and unity, so that even the most profoundly ignorant can understand what blindness and ignorance it is not to see or not to recognize Him. I might even say that among the people of unbelief, the Sophists, who are supposed to be stupid because they denied the universe's existence, are the most intelligent. For since on accepting its existence, it was not possible not to believe in God and its Creator, they started to deny the universe's existence. They denied themselves as well. Saying, "There is nothing," they abdicated their intelligences, and being saved from the boundless unreasonableness - under the guise of reason - of the other deniers, they in one sense drew close to reason.

FOURTH MATTER

As is indicated in the Tenth Word, for a Wise Maker, a most wise master builder, to follow carefully hundreds of instances of wisdom in each stone of a palace, then not to construct the palace's roof so it falls into ruin and all the innumerable purposes and instances of wisdom are lost, is something no conscious being could accept. Similarly, it is in no way possible that having followed out of his perfect wisdom tons of benefits, aims, and purposes in a tiny seed, a possessor of absolute wisdom should go to the great expense of the mighty tree as tall as a mountain so it should produce a single benefit, a single small aim, a single fruit worth virtually nothing, and so to be wastefully prodigal in a way entirely opposed and contrary to his wisdom.

In just the same way, the All-Wise Maker attaches hundreds of instances of wisdom to each of the beings in the palace of the universe and equips them to perform hundreds of duties, and to all trees bestows instances of wisdom to the number of its fruits and gives duties to the number of its flowers. For Him not to bring about the resurrection of the dead and the Great Gathering and for all those incalculable numbers of purposes and instances of wisdom and infinite duties to be meaningless, futile, pointless, and without purpose or benefit, would impute absolute impotence to that Absolutely Powerful One's perfect power, just as it would impute futility and purposelessness to that Absolutely Wise One's perfect wisdom, and utter ugliness to the beauty of that Absolutely Compassionate One's mercy, and boundless tyranny to that Absolutely Just One's perfect justice. It

would be quite simply to deny the wisdom, mercy, and justice in the universe, which may be seen by everyone. It would be an extraordinary impossibility comprising innumerable absurdities. Let the people of misguidance come and see just what a terrifying darkness, obscurity, there is in their misguidance, just as there is in their graves; and how they are the nests of scorpions. They should know that belief in the hereafter is a way as beautiful and luminous as Paradise, and should embrace belief.

FIFTH MATTER

First Topic: Necessitated by His name of All-Wise, the All-Glorious Maker follows the lightest way, the shortest path, the easiest fashion, the most beneficial form, which shows that there is no wastefulness, futility, or absence of benefits in the nature of things. Wastefulness is the opposite of the name of Wise, just as frugality is necessitated by it and is its fundamental principle.

O prodigal, wasteful man! Know that by not practising frugality, the most basic principle in the universe, you have acted in a way entirely contrary to reality! You should understand what an essential, encompassing principle is taught by the verse,

Eat and drink, but waste not in excess. {[*]:}

Second Topic: It may be said that the names of Sapient and All-Wise point to and necessitate the messengership of God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) to the degree of being self-evident.

Yes, since a meaningful book requires a teacher to explain it; and an exquisite beauty requires a mirror to show itself and see itself; and a perfect work of art requires a herald to announce it; for sure among mankind, who is addressed by the mighty book of the universe, in every letter of which are hundreds of meanings and instances of wisdom, will be a perfect guide, a supreme teacher. For he will teach the sacred, true wisdom in the book; that is, make known the existence of the wisdom and purposes in the universe; indeed, be the means of the appearance, and even existence, of the dominical purposes in the universe's creation; and make known and act as a mirror to the perfect art of the Creator, and the beauty of His names, which He willed to display throughout the universe, showing their importance

And since the Creator wants to make Himself loved through all His

beings and to be responded to by all His intelligent creatures, one of them will respond with comprehensive worship in the name of all of them in the face of those comprehensive dominical manifestations; he will bring the land and sea to ecstasy, and with a tumultuous announcement and exaltation that will cause the heavens and earth to reverberate turn the gazes of those conscious creatures to the One who made the art; and with sacred instruction and teaching and a Qur'an of Mighty Stature that will draw the attention of all reasonable people, will demonstrate in the best way the divine purposes of that Sapient and All-Wise Maker; and who will respond most completely and perfectly to the manifestations of all His instances of wisdom and of His beauty and glory; the existence of such a being is as necessary, as essential for the universe as the existence of the sun. And the one who did this and performed those functions most perfectly was self-evidently the Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). In which case, all the wisdom in the universe necessitates the messengership of Muhammad (UWBP) as the sun necessitates light, and light, the day.

Yes, just as through their greatest manifestation, the names of Sapient and All-Wise necessitate the messengership of Muhammad (UWBP) at the maximum degree, so too numerous most beautiful names like Allah, Most Merciful, All-Compassionate, Loving, Bestower, Munificent, Beauteous, and Sustainer necessitate through their greatest manifestation apparent in the universe, at the maximum degree and with absolute certainty, the messengership of Muhammad (UWBP).

For example, the all-embracing mercy which is the manifestation of the name of Most Merciful is apparent through the being sent as a Mercy to All the Worlds. Almighty God's making Himself known and loved, which is the manifestation of the name of Loving, yields the fruit of that Beloved of the Sustainer of All the Worlds and finds response in him. All instances of beauty, which are the manifestation of the name of Beauteous, that is, the beauty of the divine essence, the beauty of the divine names, beauty of art, and the beauty of creatures, are seen and displayed in the mirror of Muhammad (UWBP). The manifestations of the splendour of dominicality and sovereignty of divinity are known, become apparent and understood, and are confirmed through the messengership of Muhammad (UWBP), the herald of the dominion of dominicality. And so on, like these examples, most of the most beautiful names are shining proofs of the messengership of Muhammad (UWBP).

In Short: Since the universe exists and cannot be denied, neither can such observable truths as wisdom, grace, mercy, beauty, order, balance, and adornment, which are like the colours, embellishments, lights, rays,

arts, lives, and bonds of the universe be denied. Since it is impossible to deny these attributes and acts, certainly the Necessarily Existent, All-Wise, Munificent, Compassionate, Beauteous, Sapient, and Just One also, who is the One signified by those attributes, and is the Doer of those deeds, and the Sun and Source of those lights, can in no way be denied. And certainly the messengership of Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace), who is the supreme guide, most perfect teacher, pre-eminent herald, solver of the talisman of the universe, mirror of the Eternally Besought One, beloved of the Most Merciful, and the means of those attributes and acts being known, indeed of their perfection, and even of their being realized, can in no way be denied. His messenership is the universe's most brilliant light, like the lights of the world of reality and of the reality of the universe.

Blessings and peace be upon him to the number of seconds of the days and of the particles of creatures.

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which you have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise. {[*]:}

The Sixth Proof

The Gate of God's bestowal of life and death,

The Manifestation of the Names of Eternally Living and Self-Subsistent, and Giver of Life and Giver of Death.

Is it at all possible that the One who gives life to this vast dead and dry earth; who in so doing demonstrates His power by deploying more than three hundred thousand different forms of creation, each of them as remarkable as man; who further demonstrates in this deployment His all-embracing knowledge by the infinite distinctions and differentiations He makes in the complex intermingling of all of those forms; who directs the gaze of all His slaves to everlasting bliss by promising them resurrection in all of His heavenly decrees; who demonstrates the splendour of His dominicality by causing all of His creation to collaborate with one another, to revolve within the circle of His command and His will, to aid one another and be submitted to Him; who shows the importance He has given to man by creating him as the most comprehensive, the most precious and delicate, the most valued and valuable fruit on the tree of creation by addressing him without intermediary and subjugating all things to him; - is it at all possible that so Compassionate and Powerful a One, so Wise and All-Knowing a One, should not bring about resurrection; should not gather His creatures together or be unable to do so; should not restore man to life, or be unable to do so; should not be able to inaugurate His Supreme Court; should not be able to create Heaven and Hell? Nay, indeed, by no means is any of this possible.

Indeed, the Almighty Disposer of this world's affairs creates in every century, every year and every day, on the narrow and transient face of the globe, numerous signs, examples and indications of the Supreme Gathering and the Plain of Resurrection.

Thus in the gathering that takes place every spring we see that in the course of five or six days more than three hundred thousand different kinds of animal and plant are first gathered together and then dispersed. The roots of all the trees and plants, as well as some animals, are revived and restored

exactly as they were. The other animals are recreated in a form so similar as to be almost identical. The seeds which appear, in their outward form, to be so close to each other, nonetheless, in the course of six days or six weeks, become distinct and differentiated from each other, and then with extreme speed, ease and facility, are brought to life in the utmost order and equilibrium. Is it at all possible that for the One who does all of this anything should be difficult; that He should be unable to create the heavens and the earth in six days; that He should be unable to resurrect men with a single blast? No, by no means is it possible!

Let us suppose there were to be some gifted writer who could write out in a single hour the confused and obliterated letters of three hundred thousand books on a single sheet without any error, omission or defect, complete and in the best form. If someone were then to say to you that that writer could write out again from memory a book written by him that had fallen into the water and become obliterated, would you then say that he is unable, and would you not believe in his ability? Or think of some talented king who, in order to demonstrate his power or for the sake of providing a warning example, removes whole mountains with a single command, turns his realm upside down, and transforms the sea into dry land. Then you see that a great rock rolls down into a valley, so that the path is blocked for guests travelling to attend the king's reception and they are unable to pass. If someone should say to you: "that exalted one will remove or dissolve the stone, however great it may be, with a single command; he will not leave his guests stranded," would you then say that he will not remove the stone, or be unable to do so? Or if someone one day should gather together a great army, and you are then informed that he will summon its battalions together with a blast of the trumpet after they had dispersed to rest, and the battalions will form up in disciplined shape, would you respond by saying, "I don't believe it?" Were you to say any of these things your behaviour would truly be madness.

If you have understood these three parables, now look further and see how the Pre-Eternal Designer turns over in front of our eyes the white page of winter and opens the green pages of spring and summer. Then He inscribes on the page of the earth's surface, with the pen of power and destiny, in the most beautiful form, more than three hundred thousand species of creation. Not one encroaches upon another. He writes them all together, but none blocks the path of another. In their formation and shape, each is kept separate from the other without any confusion. There is no error in the writing. That Wise and Preserving One, Who preserves and inserts the spirit of a great tree in the smallest seed, no bigger than a dot - is it permissible

even to ask how He preserves the spirits of those who die? That Powerful One who causes the globe to revolve like a pebble in a sling - is it permissible even to ask how He will remove this globe from the path of His guests who are travelling to meet Him in the Hereafter?

Again, the One of Glorious Essence Who from non-being recruits anew and inscribes into His battalions, with the command of "Be, and behold it is," and with utmost discipline, the troops of all living things, the very particles of all of their bodies, and thus creates highly disciplined armies - is it permissible even to ask how He can make bodies submit to His discipline like a battalion, how He can gather together their mutually acquainted fundamental particles, and their component members?

You can, moreover, behold with your own eyes, the numerous designs made by God as signs, similes and indications of resurrection, designs placed by Him in every age and epoch of the world, in the alternation of day and night, even in the appearance and disappearance of clouds in the sky. If you imagine yourself to have been living a thousand years ago, and then compare with each other the two wings of time that are the past and the future, then you will behold similes of the gathering and indications of resurrection as numerous as the centuries and days. If, then, after witnessing so many similes and indications, you regard corporeal resurrection as improbable and rationally unacceptable, know your behaviour to be pure lunacy.

See what the Supreme Decree says concerning the truth we are discussing:

Look upon the signs of God's mercy, and see how He restores life to the earth after its death. Verily He it is Who shall bring to life the dead, and He is powerful over all things. {[*]:}

In short: There is nothing that makes impossible the gathering of resurrection, and much that necessitates it. The glorious and eternal dominicality, the almighty and all embracing sovereignty of the One who gives life and death to this vast and wondrous earth as if it were a mere animal; who has made of this earth a pleasing cradle, a fine ship, for man and the animals; who has made of the sun a lamp furnishing light and heat to the hostelry of the world; who has made of the planets vehicles for the conveyance of His angels - the dominicality and sovereignty of such a One cannot rest upon and be restricted to the transitory, impermanent, unstable, insignificant, changeable, unlasting, deficient and imperfect affairs of this world.

He must, therefore, have another realm, one worthy of Him, permanent, stable, immutable and glorious. Indeed, He does have another kingdom, and it is for the sake of this that He causes us to labour, and to this that He summons us. All those of illumined spirit who have penetrated from outer appearances to truth, and have been ennobled with proximity to the divine presence, all the spiritual poles endowed with luminous hearts, all the possessors of lucent intelligence, all bear witness that He will transfer us to that other kingdom. They inform us unanimously that He has prepared for us there reward and requital, and relate that He is repeatedly giving us firm promises and stern warnings.

As for the breaking of a promise, it is baseless and utter humiliation. It cannot in any way be reconciled with the glory of His sanctity. Similarly, failure to fulfil a threat arises either from forgiveness or powerlessness. Now unbelief is extreme crime, and cannot be forgiven.

{(*):}

The Absolutely Omnipotent One is exempt of and exalted above all powerlessness. Those who bring us their testimony and report, despite all the differences in their methods, temperaments and paths, are totally unanimous and agreed on this basic matter. By their number, they have the authority of unanimity. By their quality, they have the authority of learned consensus. By their rank, each one is a guiding star of mankind, the cherished eye of a people, the object of a nation's veneration. By their importance, each one is an expert and an authority in the matter. In any art or science, two experts are preferred to thousands of non-experts, and two positive affirmers are preferred to thousands of negators in the transmission of a report. For example, the testimony of two men affirming the sighting of the crescent moon at the beginning of Ramadan totally nullifies the negation of thousands of deniers.

In short: In the whole world there is no truer report, no firmer claim, no more apparent truth than this. The world is without doubt a field, and the resurrection a threshing-floor, a harvest. Paradise and Hell are each storehouses for the grain.

The Seventh Proof

Indeed in the heavens and earth are signs for those who believe. {[*]:}

If we observe the face of the earth in the summer, we see that an absolute munificence and liberality, which necessitate confusion and disarrangement, is to be seen within a total harmony and order. Look at all the plants which adorn the face of the earth!

And the utter speed in the creation of things, which necessitates imbalance and disorder, is apparent within a perfect equilibrium. Look at all the fruits which decorate the face of the earth!

And an absolute multiplicity, which necessitates unimportance, indeed, ugliness, is apparent within a perfect beauty of art. Look at all the flowers which gild the face of the earth!

And the absolute ease in the creation of things, which necessitates lack of aart and simplicity, is to be seen within an infinite art and skill and attention. Look carefully at all seeds, which are like the tiny containers and programmes of the members of plants and trees and the small cases containing their life-histories!

And the great distances, which necessitate difference and diversity, appear within an correspondence and conformity. Look at all the varieties of cereal grains sown in every part of the earth!

And the total intermingling, which necessitates confusion and muddle, is on the contrary to be seen within a perfect differentiation and separation. Consider the perfect differentiation of seeds when they sprout, despite being cast into the earth all mixed-up together and all resembling one another with regard to their substance, and the various substances which enter trees being separated out perfectly for the leaves, flowers, and fruits, and the foods which enter the stomach all mixed-up together being separated out perfectly according to the various members and cells. See the perfect power within the perfect wisdom!

And the great abundance and infinite profusion, which necessitate unimportance and worthlessness, are to be seen as most valuable and expensive in regard to the creatures and art on the face of the earth. Within these innumerable wonders of art, consider only the varieties of mulberry, those confections of divine power, on the table of the All-Merciful One on the face of the earth! See them within the perfect mercy, the perfect art!

Thus, just as the day shows the light, and the light the sun, the great value together with the utter profusion; and the boundless intermingling and intermixing together with the utmost differentiation and separation within the utter profusion; and the great distance together with the utmost conformity and resemblance within the limitless differentiation and separation; and the infinite ease and facility together with the infinite care in the making within the utmost resemblance; and the absolute speed and rapidity together with the total equilibrium and balance and lack of waste within the most beautiful making; and the infinite abundance and multiplicity together with the highest degree of beauty of art within utter lack of waste; and the utmost munificence together with absolute order within the highest degree of beauty of art, all testify to the necessary existence, perfect power, beautiful dominicality, and unity and oneness of an All-Powerful One of Glory, an All-Wise One of Perfection, an All-Compassionate and Beauteous One. They demonstrate the meaning of the verse:

His are the Most Beautiful Names. {[*]:}

So now, O you ignorant, heedless, obstinate wretch! With what can you interpret this mighty truth? With what can you explain this infinitely miraculous and wonderful state of affairs? To what can you attribute these truly extraordinary arts? What veil of heedlessness can you draw across this window as broad as the earth and so close it? Where is your chance and coincidence, your unconscious companion on which you rely and call nature, your friend and support in misguidance? It is totally impossible for chance and coincidence to interfere in these matters, isn't it? And to attribute to nature one thousandth of them is impossible a thousand times over, isn't it?

Or does lifeless, impotent nature have immaterial machines and printing presses within each single thing, made from each, and to the number of each?

The Eighth Proof

[This Eighth Proof of the Fundamentals of Belief offers evidence for the necessary existence and unity of God and certain proofs of the comprehensiveness of dominicality and the immensity of divine power. It proves too both the comprehensiveness of divine sovereignty, and the extensiveness of divine mercy, and the encompassment of divine knowledge, and the fact that divine wisdom embraces all the beings of the universe.

In Short: Each of the eight premises of this Eighth Proof of belief has eight conclusions. Proving the eight conclusions of each through their evidences, this Eighth Proof has high value.]

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

Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the alternation of night and the day; in the sailing of the ships through the oceans for the profit of mankind; in the rain which God sends down from the skies, and the life He gives therewith to an earth that is dead; in the beasts of all kinds that He scatters through the earth; in the disposal of the winds and the clouds subjugated between the sky and the earth, indeed are signs for people who think. {[*]:}

My God and Sustainer!

I see through the eyes of belief, the instruction and light of the Qur'an, the teachings of God's Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him), and the indications of the name of All-Wise that in the heavens there are no rotations and motions but through their order and regularity they point to Your existence. There is no heavenly body but through its silently performing its duty and remaining in place without prop it testifies to Your dominicality and unity. There is no star but through its balanced creation, regular position, luminous smile, and the stamp of its similarity to the other stars, it indicates the majesty of Your Godhead and Your unity. There is not one of the twelve planets but through its wise motion, docile subjection, orderly duties, and significant satellites, it testifies to Your necessary existence and indicates the sovereignty of Your Godhead.

Yes, O Creator of the Heavens and Earth who directs and administers all particles together with all the orderly components they make up, and spins the planets and their regular satellites, subjugating them to His command! , just as each of the inhabitants of the heavens testifies on its own, so in their totality they testify to Your necessary existence and unity in a way so clear and powerful that shining proofs to the number of stars in the heavens affirm that testimony.

Also, appearing as a regular army or imperial fleet decked out with electric lights, the limpid, beautiful, spotless heavens with their extraordinarily huge and speedy bodies, point clearly to the splendour of your dominicality and tremendousness of Your power, which creates all things; and to the boundless extent of Your sovereignty, which overspreads the heavens, and to Your mercy, which embraces all living things; and testifies indubitably to the comprehensiveness of Your knowledge, which is concerned with all the states and circumstances of all the creatures of the heavens, and embraces them and orders them, and to Your wisdom, which encompasses all things. This testimony is so evident it is as though the stars are the words and luminous embodiments of the skies' testimony.

Also, like disciplined soldiers, orderly ships, wondrous aeroplanes, or marvellous lamps, the stars in the arena of the heavens, and in their seas and vast spaces, show the glittering splendour of the sovereignty of Your Godhead. As is suggested by the duties of the sun - one star among the members of that army - which are related to its planets and our earth, some of its companions, the other stars, look to the worlds of the hereafter and are not without duties; they are the suns of eternal worlds.

O Necessarily Existent! O Single One of Unity!

These wondrous stars, these strange suns and moons, are subjugated, set in order, and employed in Your dominions, in Your heavens, through Your command, power, and strength, and Your administration and direction. All those heavenly bodies glorify and exalt their single Creator, who creates, spins, and administers them; through the tongue of disposition, they declare: "Glory be to God! God is Most Great!" Through all their glorifications, I too declare You holy.

O Omnipotent One of Glory, hidden in the intensity of His manifestation and concealed in the magnificence of His grandeur! O One of Absolute Power!

I have understood through the teaching of the All-Wise Qur'an and instruction of Your Most Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) that just as the heavens and stars testify to your existence and unity, so with

its clouds, lightning, thunder, winds, and rain, does the atmosphere testify to Your necessary existence and unity.

Yes, the lifeless, unconscious clouds sending the water of life, rain, to the assistance of needy living beings is only through Your mercy and wisdom; confused chance could in no way interfere. The most powerful of electricity, lightning, which alluding to its potentiality for lighting, encourages man to benefit from it and spectacularly lights up Your power in space. The thunder announces the coming of rain, causing boundless space to speak, and makes the heavens ring out with the reverberations of its glorifying; it hallows You verbally, testifying to Your dominicality. The winds, which are charged with numerous duties like providing the sustenance most vital for animate creatures, and the easiest to benefit from, and ensuring and facilitating respiration, for some purpose turn the atmosphere into a 'tablet for writing and erasing,' thus pointing to the activity of Your power and testifying to Your existence. Similarly, the mercy milked through Your compassion from the clouds and sent to living beings, testifies through the words of its balanced, orderly droplets, to the breadth of Your mercy and compassion.

O Potent and Active Disposer! O Sublime and Bountiful Bestower!

The clouds, lightning, thunder, wind, and rain each testify on their own to Your necessary existence, so too as a whole, being one within the other and assisting each other in their duties although they are by nature dissimilar and opposed to each other, they indicate most powerfully Your unity. They point too to the magnificence of Your dominicality, which makes the vast atmosphere into an exhibition of wonders, on some days filling and emptying it several times; and to the immensity and all-pervasiveness of Your power, which makes it resemble a slate which is written on then rubbed clean, and wrings it out like a sponge and waters the garden of the earth; and to your unbounded mercy and limitless rule, which under the veil of the atmosphere administer all the earth and all creatures. Moreover, the air is employed in duties so wise and the clouds and rain utilized in benefits so percipient that if it was not for a knowledge and wisdom that encompass all things, they could not be thus employed.

O You who acts as He wishes!

Through Your activity in the atmosphere, Your power which continuously displays examples of the resurrection of the dead and Great Gathering and transforms the summer into winter and winter into summer and similar acts, gives the sign that it will transform this world into the hereafter and there display its everlasting acts.

O All-Powerful One of Glory!

The air, clouds, rain, and thunder and lightning in the atmosphere are subjugated and employed in Your dominions, through Your command and power and strength. These creatures, which by nature are so different to each other, sanctify their ruler and commander, who makes them submit instanteously to his swift commands; they praise and extol His mercy.

O Glorious Creator of the Heavens and Earth!

Through the instruction of the All-Wise Qur'an and teaching of God's Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him), I believe and know that just as the heavens testify to Your necessary existence and unity through its stars and the atmosphere testifies through all it contains, so the earth testifies to Your existence and unity through all its creatures and states.

Indeed, there is no change on the earth, such as that of the trees and animals changing their garb every year, but through its orderliness it indicates Your existence and unity. There is no animal but through its sustenance being compassionately provided in relation to its need and weakness, and its being given all the members and faculties necessary to pursue its life, it testifies to Your existence and unity. There is not a plant or animal created before our eyes in the spring that through its wondrous art, its subtle adornment, its being distinguished from all other creatures, and through its order and balance, it makes you known. The marvels of Your power which fill the earth and are known as plants and animals, and their creation from seeds and grains and droplets of fluid, perfectly, without error, in adorned fashion, each with its distinguishing features, form a testimony more brilliant and powerful than the sun to the existence, unity, wisdom, and endless power of their All-Wise Maker.

Also, there is no element, such as air, water, light, fire, and earth, but through its performing functions consciously and perfectly despite its lack of consciousness, and being the means for the arrival of various well-ordered fruits from the treasury of the Unseen despite being simple, without order, and overrunning and spreading everywhere, it testifies to Your existence and unity.

O Omnipotent Creator! O Omniscient Opener Up of Forms! O Active Creator!

Just as together with all its inhabitants the earth testifies to the necessary existence of its Creator, so too, O Single One of Unity! O Clement and Kind One! O Most Bounteous Provider! , through the stamp on its face and

the stamps on the faces of all its inhabitants and their unity and being one within the other and assisting each other, and through all the names and acts of dominicality that look to them being the same, it testifies with the utmost clarity to Your unity and oneness; indeed it offers testimony to the number of its creatures.

Similarly, through its being an army encampment, an exhibition, a place of instruction, and through all the four hundred thousand different nations present in the divisions of its plants and animals regularly being given all their necessary equipment, the earth points to the magnificence of Your dominicality and to the fact that Your power penetrates all things.

Also, all the different sustenance of innumerable living beings, and its being given to them compassionately, generously, at exactly the right time from simple, dry earth, and the complete subjugation and obedience to the dominical commands of those innumerable individuals, demonstrates that Your mercy embraces all things and that your sovereignty encompasses them.

Also, the despatch of the caravans of creatures, which are in a state of constant change on the earth, and the alternations of life and death, and the administration and management of the plants and animals, and this being possible only through a knowledge that is concerned with all things and an infinite wisdom governing in all things, points to Your comprehensive knowledge and wisdom.

Also, the supreme importance given to man, who in a brief span performs infinite duties, has been equiped with abilities and faculties which suggest he is to live for all eternity, and has disposal over all the beings of the earth; and the infinite outlay made for him in this training-ground of the world, this temporary military encampment of the earth, this transient exhibition; and the boundless manifestations of dominicality, innumerable divine addresses, and incalculable divine gifts, which look to him, surely cannot be contained in this fleeting, sorry, confused life, this transitory world so full of tribulation. Since they could be only for another, eternal, life and an everlasting abode of bliss, they point to, even testify to, the bestowals of the hereafter in the everlasting realm.

O Creator of All Things!

All the creatures of the earth are administered and subjugated in Your dominions, in Your earth, through Your strength and power and will, and Your knowledge and wisdom. The dominicality whose activity is observed on the face of the earth is so comprehensive and all-embracing, and its administration and management are so perfect and precise, and it is carried

out with such sameness that it shows it is a dominicality, a disposal, which is a whole that cannot be broken into parts and a universal that cannot be divided up. Together with all its inhabitants, the earth sanctifies and glorifies its Maker with innumerable tongues far clearer than the spoken word; they praise and extol their Glorious Provider for His infinite bounties with the tongues of their beings.

O Most Pure and Holy One, hidden in the intensity of His manifestation and concealed in the magnificence of His grandeur!

Through all the sanctifications and glorifications of the earth I sanctify you and declare You to be free of all fault, impotence, and partners; and through all its praise and extolling, I offer You praise and thanks.

O Sustainer of the Land and the Seas!

I have understood from the teaching of the Qur'an and instruction of Your Most Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) that just as the skies, the atmosphere and the earth testify to Your unity and necessary existence, so do the seas, rivers, streams, and springs testify to them most clearly. Yes, there is no being in the seas, which are like the strange boilers of our world producing steam - there is not a drop of them even - but through its well-ordered being, its benefits and state, it makes known its Creator. And of the strange creatures whose splendid sustenance is given them out of simple sand and water, and the living creatures of the seas with their well-ordered beings, especially of the fishes who populate the seas with one fish producing a million eggs, there is not one but through its creation and its duties, its being sustained and administered, nurtured and superintended, it indicates its Creator and testifies to its Provider.

Also, of the precious, decorated jewels in the seas, there is not one but through its attractive creation and beneficial qualities it recognizes You and makes You known. Yes, just as they testify to You singly, so too in so far as they are all mixed up together, bear the same stamp in their natures, are created with great ease, and are found in great numbers, they altogether testify to Your unity.

Also, through the seas, which surround the globe with its land masses, being held suspended without spilling over or dispersing or overrunning the land as the earth voyages around the sun; and creating the multifarious ornamented living creatures and jewels out of simple sand and water, and all their sustenance and other needs being supplied generally; and through their administration, and through none of the inevitable innumerable corpses of their dead fellows being found on the surface of the seas; they testify indirectly to their number to Your existence and its necessity.

Also, just as they point clearly to the splendid sovereignty of Your dominicality and to the magnificence of Your power, which encompasses all things; so do they indicate the limitless breadth of Your mercy and rule, which govern all things from the huge yet orderly stars beyond the skies to the tiny fishes at the bottom of the sea, which are nurtured in regular fashion. They point too to Your knowledge and wisdom, which as demonstrated by the order, benefits, instances of wisdom, and the balance and equilibrium of all things, encompass and comprehend them. There being such reservoirs of mercy for the travellers in this guesthouse of the world and their being utilized for man's journeying, and for his ship, and his benefit shows that the One who bestows such a profusion of gifts out of the seas on his guests of one night in a wayside inn, must surely have eternal seas of mercy at the seat of His everlasting rule, and those here are merely their small and transitory samples.

Thus, the truly wondrous situation of the seas around the earth and the exceedingly orderly administration and nurturing of their creatures demonstrate self-evidently that it is only through Your power, will, and administration that they are subjugated to Your command in Your dominions; and through the tongues of their beings they sanctify their Creator, declaring: "God is Most Great!"

O All-Powerful One of Glory, who makes the mountains masts and holds of treasure for the ship of the earth!

Through the instruction of Your Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) and the teaching of the Wise Qur'an, I have understood that just as the seas with their strange creatures recognize You and make You known, so do the mountains through the wise services they perform. For they ensure that the earth is released from the effects of earthquakes and internal upheavals; save it from being overrun by the seas; purify the air of poisonous gases; are tanks for the saving and storage of water; and treasuries for the minerals and metals necessary for living beings.

Yes, there is not one of the stones to be found in mountains, or the various substances used as remedies for illness, or the varieties of metals and minerals, which are essential for living beings and especially man, or the species of plants that adorn the mountains and plains with their flowers and fruits, but through the wisdom, order, and fine creation it displays, which is impossible to ascribe to chance, it testifies to the necessary existence of an infinitely Powerful, Wise, Compassionate, and Munificent Maker. This is especially true of substances found in the mountains like salt, potassium oxalate, quinine sulphate, and alum, which superficially resemble each

other, but whose tastes are totally dissimilar; and particularly of all the varieties of plants, and the great diversity of their flowers and fruits. Moreover, through their being administered and managed as a totality, and their origins, situations, creation, and art all being similar, and the ease, speed, and cheapness in their making, they testify to the unity and oneness of their Maker.

Also, the creatures on the surface of the mountains and inside them being made everywhere on the earth at the same time in the same fashion, perfectly and without error, with none impeding others, and their being created without confusion despite being intermingled with all the other sorts of other creatures, all point to the splendour of Your dominicality and the immensity of Your power, for which nothing is difficult.

Also, the mountains - both their surfaces and their interiors - being filled in orderly fashion with trees, plants, and minerals to meet the innumerable needs of all the living creatures on the earth, and even to supply the remedies for their many different illnesses, and gratify their various appetites and tastes, and these being displayed for those who need them, indicates the infinite breadth of Your mercy and infinite extent of Your sovereignty. While their being prepared percipiently, knowingly, without confusion, in orderly fashion according to need, despite being all mixed up and concealed in the darkness of the soil layer, indicates Your all-embracing knowledge, which encompasses all things, and the comprehensiveness of Your wisdom, which sets all things in order. Then the storing up of medicinal substances, minerals, and metals points clearly to the compassionate, generous, planned processes of Your dominicality and the subtle precautions of Your grace.

Also, the lofty mountains holding stored up in orderly fashion the reserves to meet the future needs of the travellers in the guesthouse of this world, and their being stores stocked up with all the treasures necessary for life, indicates, indeed, testifies, that the Maker who is thus Munificent and hospitable, All-Wise and Compassionate, Powerful and nurturing, surely possesses eternal treasuries for His never-ending bestowal in an everlasting realm, for His guests Whom He clearly loves. There the stars will perform the function the mountains perform here.

O One Powerful Over All Things!

The mountains and the creatures within them are subjugated and stored up in Your dominions through Your power and strength, Your knowledge and wisdom! They sanctify and glorify their Creator, who subjugates and employs them in this way.

O Merciful Creator, Compassionate Sustainer!

Through the instruction of Your Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) and the teaching of the Wise Qur'an I have understood that just as the heavens, atmosphere, earth, seas, and mountains, together with their creatures and all they contain, recognize You and make You known; so too do all the trees and plants, together with all their leaves and flowers and fruits. All their leaves, with their ecstatic movements and recitations; all their flowers, which describe through their decoration the names of their Maker; and all their fruits, which smile with their agreeableness and the manifestation of Your compassion, testify - through the order within their wondrous art, which is utterly impossible to ascribe to chance, and the balance within the order, and the adornment within the balance, and the embroideries within the adornment, and the fine and various scents within the embroideries, and the varying tastes of the fruits within the scents - so clearly as to be self-evident to the necessary existence of an infinitely Compassionate and Munificent Maker. At the same time, their similarity and mutual resemblance throughout the earth, and their bearing the same stamps on their creation, and their being related in their administration and organization, and the coincidence of the creative acts and dominical names connected with them, and the innumerable members of their one hundred thousand species being raised one within the other without confusion, forms a testimony through them as a whole to the unity and oneness of their Necessarily Existent Maker.

Also, just as they testify to Your necessary existence and unity, so too the nurturing and administration in hundreds of ways of the innumerable members of the army of living creatures on the face of the earth, which is formed of four hundred thousand different nations, perfectly, with no confusion or difficulty, point to the majesty of Your dominicality within Your unity and to the immensity of Your power, which creates a flower as easily as the spring, and its comprehending all things. They point also to the unlimited breadth of Your mercy, which prepares innumerable varieties of foods for animals and men all over the earth; and through all those works and bestowals, administering and nurturing, being carried out with perfect regularity, and everything, even minute particles, being obedient and subjugated to those commands, they indicate certainly the infinite extent of Your rule; and through every part of those trees and plants, like their leaves, blossoms, fruits, roots, branches, and twigs, being made with every aspect of them being known and seen, in accordance with useful purposes, instances of wisdom, and benefits, they point clearly with innumerable

fingers to Your knowledge, which embraces all things, and to the comprehensiveness of Your wisdom. With innumerable tongues, they praise and extol the utterly perfect beauty of Your art and the sheer beauty of Your perfect bestowal.

Also, these precious gifts and bounties and this extraordinary outlay and bestowal, in this temporary hostel and transitory guesthouse, for this brief time and fleeting life, indicate through the hands of the trees and plants, indeed, testify, that in order not to make all creatures say, contrary to the necessary result of all His expense and bestowal which is to make Himself loved and known: "You gave us a taste, but then executed us without permitting us to eat;" and not to nullify the sovereignty of His Godhead, and not deny His infinite mercy and make it denied, and in order not to turn all his yearning friends into enemies through depriving them thus, the munificent All-Compassionate One has of a certainty prepared for His servants whom He will send to an everlasting realm, an eternal world, fruit-bearing trees, and flowering plants appropriate to Paradise out of the treasuries of His mercy, in His eternal Paradises. Those here are merely samples to show the customers.

Also, just as through the words of their leaves, flowers and fruits, the trees and plants praise, sanctify, and glorify You, so each one of those words singly declare You to be holy. The glorifications of fruits in particular through the tongue of disposition - with the great variety of their original flesh, their wondrous art, and extraordinary seeds, and those trays of food being given to hands of the trees and placed on them, and sent to Your living guests - their glorifications are so evident they are almost verbal. All these are subjugated and submissive to Your command in Your dominions through Your power and strength, and Your wisdom and bestowal!

O Wise Maker and Compassionate Creator, hidden in the intensity of His manifestation and concealed within the magnificence of His grandeur!

Through the tongues of all trees and plants, and their leaves, flowers, and fruits, and to their number, I praise and extol You and declare You free of all defect, impotence, and partners!

O All-Powerful Creator! All-Wise Planner! Compassionate Nurturer!

Through the instruction of Your Most Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) and the teaching of the Wise Qur'an, I have understood and believed that just as plants and trees recognize You and make known Your sacred attributes and beautiful names; so too among men and the animals,

which are living creatures with spirits, there is not one that through its internal and external members, which work as regularly as clockwork, and the extremely fine order and balance of their bodies, and the significant benefits and purposes of their senses and faculties, and the great art in their making, and their being decked out with much wisdom, and the precise equilibrium of their physical systems, but it testifies to Your necessary existence and the reality of Your attributes. For blind force, unconscious nature, and aimless chance could in no way interfere in such percipient, delicate art, and conscious subtle wisdom, and perfect providential balance; they could not be their work; it is impossible. It is also utterly impossible that living creatures made themselves, for then each of their particles would have to possess comprehensive knowledge and wisdom like a god, to be able to know, see, and make all the parts of their bodies and form it, indeed, it would have to be able to know, see, and make everything in the world connected with it, then the body's formation could be referred to it, and it could be said that "it makes itself."

Also, their being subject to the same administration, and the same planning, and their all being the same kind, and their bearing the same stamp, such as the resemblance in features like the eye, ear, and mouth, and the unity in the stamp of wisdom observed on the faces of members of the same species, and the resemblance in livelihood and creation, and their all being one within the other; there is not one of these circumstances but it testifies categorically to Your unity, and, by the manifestations of all Your names which look to the universe being on each individual, to Your oneness within unity.

Also, through being equipped, trained, and subservient like a regular army and from the smallest to the largest, their conforming in orderly fashion to the commands of dominicality, man and the hundred thousand animal species on the face of the earth point to the degree of splendour of that dominicality; and through their great value despite their great multitude, and their perfection despite the speed of their making, and their great art despite the ease of their making, to the degree of grandeur of Your power. Also, they point decisively to the boundless expanse of Your mercy, which sends their sustenance to all of them, from the microbe to the rhinoceros, and the tiniest fly to the largest bird, dispersed from east to west and north to south; and through all of them performing their natural functions like soldiers under command, and every spring the face of the earth being the encampment of an army newly taken under arms in place of those discharged the previous autumn, to the infinite extent of Your sovereignty.

Also, through a profound knowledge and precise wisdom all living

creatures being miniature copies of the universe, and their being made faultlessly, with none of their parts being confused or any of their different forms mixed up, they point to their number to Your knowledge, which embraces all things, and Your wisdom, which comprehends all things; while by their all being made so beautiful and fine as to be miracles of art and wonders of wisdom, they indicate in innumerable ways the utterly perfect beauty of Your dominical art, which You greatly love and want to exhibit; and through all of them, and particularly their young, being nourished in the finest way, with their wishes and desires being satisfied, to the sweet beauty of Your grace.

O Most Merciful and Compassionate! O One Most True to His Promise! Owner of the Day of Judgement!

Through the instruction of Your Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) and the guidance of the All-Wise Qur'an I have understood that since the choicest result of the universe is life, and the choicest essence of life is spirit, and the choicest of beings with spirits are intelligent beings, and of intelligent beings the one with the most comprehensive nature is man; and since all the universe is subjugated to life and works for life, and living beings are subjugated to beings with spirits and they are sent to this world for them, and beings with spirits are subjugated to man and they assist him; and since by nature men earnestly love their Creator and their Creator both loves them, and by every means makes them love Him; and since man's innate capacity and spiritual faculties look to another, permanent world and everlasting life, and his heart and intelligence desire eternity with all their strength, and his tongue beseeches his Creator for eternity with endless prayers; He surely would not offend men, who love Him greatly and are loved, by causing them to die then not raising them again to life, and while He created them for an eternal love, to make them feel eternal hostility; to do that would not be possible. Men were sent to work in this world in order to live happily in another, eternal world, and to win that life. The names manifested on man in this brief and fleeting life indicate that men, who will be their mirrors in the eternal realm, will receive their eternal manifestations.

Yes, the true friend of the Eternal One should be eternal, and the conscious mirror of the Enduring One should be enduring.

It is understood from sound narrations that the spirits of animals will live eternally, and that certain individual animals, like the Hudhud of Solomon (PUH) and his ants, Salih's (PUH) she-camel, and the dog of the Companions of the Cave, will go to the eternal realm with both their spirits and

their bodies, {[*]:} and that each species will have a single body that may be utilized from time to time. This is also demanded by wisdom and reality, and mercy and dominicality.

O All-Powerful Self-Subsistent One!

All living creatures, beings with spirits, and conscious beings are subjugated to the commands of Your dominicality and employed in their innate duties only through Your power and strength, Your will and planning, and Your mercy and wisdom. Some have been subjugated to man, not because of man's power and dominance, but by divine mercy because of his innate weakness and impotence. Through the tongues of both disposition and speech they absolve their Maker and True Object of Worship of all defect and partner, and offering thanks and praise for His bounties, perform the worship particular to them.

O Most Pure and Holy One, hidden in the intensity of His manifestation and concealed within the magnificence of His grandeur!

Forming the intention, I sanctify You with the glorifications of all beings with spirits, and declare: «Glory be to You who has made from water all living things!» {[*]:}

O Sustainer of All the Worlds! O God of the First-comers and the Last-comers! O Sustainer of the Heavens and the Earth!

Through the instruction of Your Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) and the teaching of the All-Wise Qur'an I have understood and believe that just as the heavens, atmosphere, earth, land and sea, trees, plants, and animals, together with all their members, parts, and particles, know and recognize You and point to and testify to Your existence and unity; so too living beings, the essence of the universe, and man, the essence of living creatures, and the prophets, saints, and purified scholars, the essence of men, and, through their visions, unfoldings, inspirations, and the discoveries of their hearts and intellects, which form the essence of the prophets, saints, and purified scholars, testify with the certainty of a hundredfold consensus to Your necessary existence, unity and oneness, and give news of them; and through their miracles, wonderworking, and certain proofs, prove what they tell of.

Yes, there is nothing that occurs to the heart, which looks to one who inspires it from behind the veil of the Unseen; and there is no inspiration, which makes one look to the giver of inspiration; and there is no certain belief, which discloses in the form of 'absolute certainty' Your sacred

attributes and most beautiful names; and there is no luminous heart of the prophets and saints, which observes with 'the vision of certainty' the lights of the Necessary Existent; and there is no enlightened intellect of the purified scholars and veracious ones, which confirms and proves with 'the knowledge of certainty' the signs of the existence of the Creator of All Things and the proofs of His unity; - there is not one of these that does not testify to Your necessary existence, and sacred attributes, and Your unity, oneness, and most beautiful names, and point to them and indicate them.

Also, just as relying on their miracles, wonder-working and proofs, all those hundreds of thousands of truthful bringers of good news testify to Your existence and unity; so they unanimously give news of, proclaim, and prove the degree of majesty of Your dominicality, which governs from the administration of the totality of matters of the Sublime Throne, which encompasses all things, to knowing and hearing and administering the secret, private thoughts of the heart, and its desires and supplications. They tell of and prove too the immensity of Your power, which creates innumerable different things at once, and makes the greatest thing as easily as the smallest with no act impeding another and no matter obstructing another.

Also, they give news of and prove through their miracles and proofs the immense breadth of Your mercy, which makes the universe a magnificent palace for beings with spirits, and especially man; has prepared Paradise and everlasting happiness for jinn and man; does not forget even the tiniest living being; and tries to satisfy and please the most impotent heart.

They give news too of the infinite extent of Your sovereignty, which makes comply with Your commands all the realms of creatures from particles to the planets, and subjugates and employs them.

So also they unanimously testify to Your comprehensive knowledge, which makes the universe into a vast book containing treatises to the numbers of its parts, and records the life-stories of all beings in the Clear Record and Clear Book, which are the notebooks of the Preserved Tablet, and inscribes completely and without error in their seeds the indexes and programmes of all trees and the biographies of conscious beings in the memories in their heads.

They testify too to the comprehensiveness of Your sacred wisdom, which attaches numerous purposes to all beings, causing even trees to produce results to the number of their fruits, and follows benefits in all living beings to the number of their members, and even their parts and cells, and employing man's tongue in numerous duties, equips it with the ability to weigh up tastes to the number of foods.

They also unanimously testify that the manifestations of the names

related to Your beauty and glory, samples of which are to be seen in this world, will continue in more brilliant fashion for all eternity, and that your bounties, samples of which are to be observed in this transitory world, will persist in the abode of bliss in even more glittering fashion, and that those who long for them in this world will accompany them and be together with them for all eternity.

Also, relying on hundreds of evident miracles and decisive signs, foremost Your Most Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) and the All-Wise Qur'an, and the prophets with their luminous spirits, and the saints, who are spiritual poles with their light-filled hearts, and the purified scholars with their enlightened intellects, relying on Your repeated threats and promises in all the sacred scriptures, and trusting in Your sacred attributes, like power, mercy, favour, wisdom, glory, and beauty, and on Your functions, and the dignity of Your glory, and the sovereignty of Your dominicality, and in consequence of their illuminations and visions and beliefs at the degree of 'the knowledge of certainty,' give the glad tidings to men and jinn of eternal happiness and inform them of Hell for the people of misguidance; they believe this and testify to it.

O All-Powerful and Wise One! O Most Merciful and Compassionate! O Munificent One True to His Promise! O Compelling One of Glory, One of Dignity, Grandeur, and Wrath!

You are utterly exempt from and exalted above giving the lie to so many loyal friends, and so many promises, and attributes and functions, and denying the certain demands of the sovereignty of Your dominicality and the endless prayers and supplications of Your innumerable acceptable servants, whom You love and who attract Your love by assenting to You and obeying You; and You are exempt from confirming the denial of resurrection of the people of misguidance and unbelief, who through their disbelief and rebellion and denial of Your promises, offend the magnificence of Your grandeur and affront Your dignity and glory and the honour of Your Godhead, and sadden the compassion of Your dominicality. I declare Your justice, beauty, and mercy to be exempt from such infinite tyranny, such ugliness. With all the particles of my being, I want to recite the verse,

Glory be to Him! He is high above all that they say! - Exalted and Great [beyond measure]! {[*]:}

Indeed, those truthful envoys of Yours and heralds of Your sovereignty testify with 'absolute certainty,' 'knowledge of certainty,' and 'the vision of certainty' to the treasuries of Your mercy in the hereafter and the stores

of Your bounties in the everlasting realm, and to the wondrously beautiful manifestations of Your beautiful names, which will be manifested totally in the abode of bliss, and they give good news of these. Believing that the supreme ray of Your name of Truth, which is the source, sun, and protector of all realities, is this truth of the resurrection and Great Gathering, they teach it to Your servants.

O Sustainer of the Prophets and Veracious Ones!

They are all subservient to You and charged with their duties in Your dominions through Your command and power, Your will and planning, Your knowledge and wisdom. They demonstrate through sanctifying, exalting, and extolling You, and declaring You to be One, that the globe is a vast place for Your remembrance and the universe, a huge mosque.

O My Sustainer and Sustainer of the Heavens and Earth! O My Creator and Creator of All Things! For the sake of Your power, will, wisdom, sovereignty, and mercy, which subjugate the heavens and their stars, the earth and all it contains, and all creatures together with all their attributes and acts, subject my soul to me and subjugate to me my wishes! Subjugate the hearts of people to the Risale-i Nur so they may serve the Qur'an and belief! And grant me and my brothers perfect belief and a happy death! As You subjugated the sea to Moses (Peace be upon him), fire to Abraham (Peace be upon him), the mountains and iron to David (Peace be upon him), jinn and men to Solomon (Peace be upon him), and the sun and moon to Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), subjugate hearts and minds to the Risale-i Nur! Preserve me and all the students of the Risale-i Nur from the evil of the soul and Satan, and the torment of the grave and Hell-fire, and grant us happiness in Paradise! Amen. Amen. Amen.

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise. {[*]:}

And the close of their prayer will be: All praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds. {[*]:}

If I have been at fault in offering to the Court of my Compassionate Sustainer this instructive piece which I have taken from the Qur'an and the Jaushan al-Kabir, a supplication of the Prophet (PBUH), as worship in the form of reflective thought, making the Qur'an and the Jaushan my intercessors, I beseech forgiveness for my fault.

The Ninth Proof

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

So [give] glory to God, when you reach eventide and when you rise in the morning; Yea, to Him be praise, in the heavens and on earth; and in the late afternoon and when the day begins to decline.

It is He Who brings out the living from the dead, and brings out the dead from the living, and Who gives life to the earth after it is dead: and thus shall you be brought out [from the dead].

Among His Signs is this, that He created you from dust; and then, behold, you are men scattered [far and wide]!

And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquillity with them, and He has put love and mercy between your [hearts]: verily in that are Signs for those who reflect.

And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your languages and your colours: verily in that are Signs for those who know.

And among His Signs is the sleep that you take by night and by day, and the quest that you [make for livelihood] out of His bounty: verily in that are Signs for those who hearken.

ّۢپ among His Signs, He shows you the lightning, by way both of fear and of hope, and He sends down rain from the sky and with it gives life to the earth after it is dead: verily in that are Signs for those who are wise.

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 [straightway] come forth.

To Him belongs every being that is in the heavens and on earth: all are devoutly obedient to Him.

It is He Who begins [the process of] creation; then repeats it; and for Him it is most easy. To Him belongs the loftiest similitude [we can

think of] in the heavens and the earth; for He is Exalted in Might, Full of Wisdom. {[*]:}

In this Ninth Ray will be expounded a supreme point of these sublime heavenly verses, which demonstrate one of the poles of belief; these mighty sacred proofs of the resurrection of the dead will be explained. It is a subtle instance of dominical grace that thirty years ago at the end of his work entitled Muhâkemat (Reasonings), which was written to set out the principles of Qur'anic exegesis, the Old Said wrote: "Second Aim: Two Qur'anic verses alluding to the resurrection of the dead will be expounded and explained. In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate." There he stopped and could write no further. Now, praise and thanks be to my Compassionate Creator to the number of signs and indications of the resurrection, that thirty years later He gave me success. Yes, nine or ten years ago, He bestowed the Tenth and Twenty-Ninth Words, two brilliant and powerful proofs expounding the divine decree of:

So look to the signs of God's mercy, how He raises to life the earth after its death; He it is who will raise the dead to life, for He is Powerful Over All Things. {[*]:}

which was the first of the two verses. They silenced the deniers of resurrection. Now, nine or ten years after those two impregnable bastions of belief in the resurrection of the dead, He bestowed with the present treatise a commentary on the second of the above two sublime verses. This Ninth Ray, then, consists of nine elevated stations, indicated by the above-mentioned verses, and an important introduction.

Introduction

[Two points comprising a concise explanation of one comprehensive result of the numerous spiritual benefits of belief in resurrection and of its vital consequences; a demonstration of how essential it is for human life and especially for the life of society; a summary of one universal proof out of numerous proofs of the tenet of belief in the resurrection of the dead; and a statement of how indubitable and self-evident is that tenet of belief.]

FIRST POINT

We shall indicate, as a measure, only four out of hundreds of proofs that belief in the hereafter is fundamental to the life of society and to man's personal life, and is the basis of his happiness, prosperity, and achievement.

The First: It is only with the thought of Paradise that children, who form almost a half of mankind, can endure all the deaths around them, which appear to them to be grievous and frightening, and strengthen the morale of their weak and delicate beings. With the thought of Paradise they find hope in their vulnerable spirits, prone to weeping, and may live happily. For example, thinking of Paradise, a child may say: "My little brother or friend has died and become a bird in Paradise. He is flying around Paradise and living more happily than us." The frequent deaths before their unhappy eyes of other children like themselves or of grown-ups will otherwise destroy all their resistance and morale, making their subtle faculties, such as their spirits, hearts, and minds, weep together with their eyes; they will either decline utterly or become crazy, wretched animals.

Second Proof: It is only through the life of the hereafter that the elderly, who form half of mankind, can endure the proximity of the grave, and be consoled at the thought that their lives, to which they are firmly attached, will soon be extinguished and their fine worlds come to an end. It is only with the hope of eternal life that they can respond to the grievous despair they feel in their emotional child-like spirits at the thought of death. Those worthy, anxious fathers and mothers, so deserving of compassion and in need of tranquillity and peace of mind, will otherwise feel a terrible spiritual turmoil and distress in their hearts, and this world will become a dark prison for them, and life even, grievous torment.

Third Proof: It is only the thought of Hell-fire that checks the turbulent emotions of youths, the most vigorous element in the life of society, and their violent excesses, restraining them from aggression, oppression, and destruction, and ensuring that the life of society continues tranquilly. If not for fear of Hell, in accordance with the rule 'Might is right,' in pursuing their desires, those drunken youths would turn the worlds of the wretched weak and powerless into Hell, and elevated humanity into base animality.

Fourth Proof: The most comprehensive centre of man's worldly life, and its mainspring, and a paradise, refuge, and fortress of worldly happiness, is the life of the family. Everyone's home is a small world for him. And the life and happiness of his home and family are possible through genuine, earnest, and loyal respect and true, tender, and self-sacrificing compassion. This true respect and genuine kindness may be felt due to the idea of the members of the family having an everlasting companionship and friendship and togetherness, and their parental, filial, brotherly, and friendly relations continuing for all eternity in a limitless life, and their believing this. One says, for example: "My wife will be my constant companion

in an everlasting world and eternal life. It does not matter if she is now old and ugly, for she will have an immortal beauty." He will tell himself that he will be as kind and devoted as he can for the sake of that permanent companionship, and treat his elderly wife lovingly and kindly as though she were a beautiful houri. A companionship that was to end in eternal separation after an hour or two of brief, apparent friendship would otherwise afford only superficial, temporary, feigned, animal-like feelings, and false compassion and artificial respect. As with animals, self-interest and other overpowering emotions would prevail over the respect and compassion, transforming that worldly paradise into Hell.

Thus, one of the hundreds of results of belief in resurrection is connected with the life of society. If a comparison is made between the above four proofs out of the hundreds of aspects and benefits of this single consequence and the rest, it will be understood that the realization of the truth of resurrection and its occurrence, are as certain as the elevated reality of humanity and its universal need. It is clearer even than the evidence for the existence of food offered by the existence of need in man's stomach, and tells of its existence more clearly. It proves too that if the consequences of the truth of resurrection were to quit humanity, whose nature is extremely significant, lofty, and living, it would descend to being a corrupt corpse fed on by microbes.

The sociologists, politicians, and moralists who govern mankind and are concerned with its social and moral questions should be aware of this! How do they propose to fill this vacuum? With what can they cure these deep wounds?

SECOND POINT

This explains in summary form a proof - one of many - proceeding from the testimony to the truth of resurrection of the other pillars of belief. It is as follows:

All the miracles indicating the messengership of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) and the evidences for his prophethood, and all the proofs of his veracity, together testify to the occurrence of the resurrection and prove it. For after divine unity, everything he claimed throughout his life was centred on the resurrection of the dead. Also, all his miracles and proofs affirming, and making affirmed, all the previous prophets attest to the same truth. Also, the testimony of the phrase "and in His Scriptures," which makes completely clear the testimony of the phrase "and in His Prophets," testifies to the same truth. Like this:

All the miracles, truths, and proofs proving foremost the veracity of the

Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, testify to and prove the realization and occurrence of resurrection. For almost a third of the Qur'an is about resurrection, and at the beginning of most of its short suras are powerful verses about it. It expresses the same truth explicity and implicitly with thousands of its verses, and proves and demonstrates it. For example:

When the sun is folded up. {[*]:} * O men, fear your Sustainer; the trembling of the Hour is an awesome event; {[*]:} * When the earth is convulsed; {[*]:} * When the heavens are torn asunder; {[*]:} * When the heavens are torn apart; {[*]:} * Concerning what they dispute; {[*]:} * Has the story reached you, of the overwhelming event? {[*]:}

Besides demonstrating with complete certainty at the beginning of thirty or forty suras that resurrection is the most important and necessary truth in the universe, it sets forth various persuasive evidences for that truth in others of its verses.

Is there any possibility that belief in the hereafter should be false, which emerges like the sun from the thousands of declarations and statements of a Book a single indication of one of the verses of which has yielded before our eyes the fruits of numerous learned and cosmic truths in the Islamic sciences? Is there any possibility of denying the sun, or the existence of the universe? Would it not be impossible and absurd? Is it at all possible that although an army may sometimes be plunged into battle so that a mere sign of the king should not be given the lie, to show as false the thousands of words, promises, and threats of that most serious, proud monarch? Is it possible that they should be false?

Although a single sign of that glorious spiritual monarch who for thirteen centuries without break has ruled over innumerable spirits, minds, hearts, and souls within the bounds of truth and reality, and trained and educated them, would be sufficient to prove the truth of resurrection, it has demonstrated it with thousands of explicit statements. Is the torment of Hell-fire not necessary then for the compounded idiot who does not recognize this fact? Is it not pure justice?

Moreover, by their definite acceptance of the truth of resurrection, which the Qur'an - prevailing over the future and all times repeatedly

proves in detail and elucidates, all the revealed scriptures and sacred books, each of which dominated a particular period, proved it according to their own times and centuries, but in undetailed, veiled, and summary manner, confirming with a thousand signatures what the Qur'an teaches.

Included here since it is related to this discussion is the testimony at the end of the Third Ray of the other pillars of faith, and particularly "the Prophets" and "Holy Scriptures," to "belief in the Last Day." It forms a convincing proof of resurrection, and is in the form of a powerful yet succinct supplication which dispels all doubts. It says in the supplication:

"O My Compassionate Sustainer!

"I have understood from the instruction of Your Noble Messenger (PBUH) and the teaching of the Qur'an, that foremost the Qur'an and the Messenger, and all the sacred scriptures and prophets, have unanimously testified and pointed out that the manifestations of the names related to Your beauty and glory, examples of which are to be seen in this world, will continue even more radiantly for all eternity, and that Your bounties, samples of which are to be observed in this transitory world, will persist in the abode of bliss in still more glittering fashion, and that those who long for them in this world will accompany them for all eternity.

"Also, relying on hundreds of evident miracles and decisive signs, foremost Your Most Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) and the All-Wise Qur'an, and the prophets with their luminous spirits, and the saints, who are spiritual poles with their light-filled hearts, and the purified scholars with their enlightened intellects, relying on Your repeated threats and promises in all the sacred scriptures, and trusting in Your sacred attributes such as power, mercy, favour, wisdom, glory, and beauty, and on Your qualities, and the dignity of Your glory, and the sovereignty of Your dominicality, and in consequence of their illuminations and visions and beliefs at the degree of 'the knowledge of certainty,' give the glad tidings to men and jinn of eternal happiness and inform them of Hell for the people of misguidance; they firmly believe this and testify to it.

"O All-Powerful and Wise One! O Most Merciful and Compassionate! O Munificent One True to His Promise! O All-Compelling One of Glory, One of Dignity, Grandeur, and Wrath!

"You are utterly exempt from and exalted above giving the lie to so many loyal friends, and so many promises, and attributes and qualities, and denying the certain demands of the sovereignty of Your dominicality and the endless prayers and supplications of Your innumerable acceptable servants, whom You love and who attract Your love by assenting to You and obeying You; and You are exempt from confirming the denial of resurrection

by the people of misguidance and unbelief, who through their disbelief and rebellion and denial of Your promises, offend the magnificence of Your grandeur and affront Your dignity and glory and the honour of Your Godhead, and sadden the compassion of Your dominicality. We declare Your justice, beauty, and mercy to be exempt from such infinite tyranny, such ugliness. We believe with all our strength that the testimony of the prophets, purified scholars, and saints, who are those truthful envoys of Yours, those heralds of Your sovereignty, at the degrees of 'absolute certainty,' 'knowledge of certainty,' and 'the vision of certainty,' to the treasuries of Your mercy in the hereafter and the stores of Your bounties in the everlasting realm, and to the wondrously beautiful manifestations of Your beautiful names, which will be manifested totally in the abode of bliss, are absolutely true and veracious, and what they have indicated conforms absolutely with reality, and that what they have given glad tidings of is true and will occur. Believing that the supreme ray of Your name of Truth, which is the source, sun, and protector of all realities, is this truth of the resurrection and Great Gathering, they teach it to Your servants."

O God! For the sake of what they teach and in veneration of it, grant us and all students of the Risale-i Nur perfect belief and a happy death. And allow us to receive their intercession. Amen!

Moreover, just as all the proofs demonstrating the veracity of the revealed scriptures, and all the miracles and evidences proving the prophethood of God's Beloved (PBUH) and of all the prophets, indirectly prove the reality of the hereafter, which is what they teach above all else; so most of the evidences for the existence and unity of the Necessary Existent testify indirectly to the existence and opening up of an eternal realm of bliss, which will be the supreme manifestation of dominicality and divinity. For as is explained and proved in the following paragraphs, both the existence of the Necessarily Existent One, and most of His attributes, qualities and Names, such as dominicality, Godhead, mercy, grace, wisdom, and justice, necessitate the hereafter with the utmost certainty, and demand an eternal realm and the resurrection of the dead and Last Judgement for the granting of reward and punishment.

Since there is a pre-eternal and post-eternal God, most certainly there is the hereafter, the everlasting sphere of the sovereignty of His Godhead.

And since there is in the universe and in living beings a most majestic and wise, a most compassionate and absolute dominicality, and it is apparent; there is certain to be an eternal realm of happiness which will save the majesty of that dominicality from abasement, its wisdom from purposelessness, and its compassion from cruelty; and that realm shall be entered.

And since the unlimited bestowals, bounties, favours, gifts, and instances of grace and mercy which are to be seen, show to minds that are not extinguished and hearts that are not dead that behind the veil of the Unseen is One All-Merciful and Compassionate; surely there is an immortal life in an eternal realm which will save the bestowal from mockery, the bounties from deception, the favours from enmity, the mercy from torment, the grace and gifts from treachery, and will make the bounties bounty and the bestowal bestowal.

And since in the springtime on the narrow page of the earth, a pen of power writes a hundred thousand books without error tirelessly before our eyes; and since the Holder of the pen has promised a hundred thousand times: "I am going to write a fine, immortal book in a broad realm, easier than this book of the spring written in this narrow realm, confused and intermingled, and I shall allow you to read it;" - since He mentions the book in all his decrees; certainly, the main part of the book has been written, and with the resurrection and Last Judgement its footnotes shall be added, and all the notebooks of people's actions shall be recorded in it.

And since, with its multiplicity of creatures, the earth is the dwelling, source, factory, exhibition, and gathering place of hundreds of thousands of constantly changing species of living beings and beings with spirits, and is the heart, centre, summary, and result of the universe, and the reason for its creation; it has supreme importance, and is held equal to the mighty heavens despite its smallness; in the heavenly decrees, it is always said: Sustainer of the Heavens and Earth...

And since there is man, who rules over the earth, which is thus, has disposal over most creatures, and subjects most living beings gathering them around himself; and since he so orders, displays, and gathers each remarkable species together in one place like a list, adorning them, that he attracts not only the attention and admiration of men and jinn, but of the dwellers of the heavens and the universe, and the appreciative gaze of the universe's Owner, thus gaining great importance and high worth; and since he shows through his sciences and arts that he is the purpose of the universe's creation, and its most important result, and most precious fruit, and the divine vicegerent on earth; and since because with respect to this world, he has ordered and displayed excellently the miraculous arts of the world's Maker, he is left in this world despite his rebellion and disbelief, and his punishment is postponed, and because of this work of his, his term is prolonged and is allowed success...

And since there is an extremely powerful, wise, and compassionate Disposer who makes the mighty globe into a treasury of every sort of metal

and mineral that man needs in a way entirely beyond his strength and will who despite being weak, impotent, and wanting by nature and creation, has innumerable needs and is subject to innumerable pains - and since He makes it into a store of every sort of food, and a shop stocking goods of every kind that pleases man, and looks to man in this way, and nurtures him, and gives him what he wants...

And since there is a Sustainer who is thus, who both loves man and causes man to love Him, and who is enduring and has eternal worlds, and who performs every work with justice and carries out everything with wisdom; and since the splendour of that Pre-Eternal Sovereign's rule and His eternal dominion cannot be contained in this brief worldly life, and in man's fleeting span, and in the temporary and transient earth; and since the excessive wrongdoing and rebellion that occur among men, which are contrary to and opposed to the universe's order, justice, balance, and beauty, and their denial, treachery, and disbelief towards their Benefactor, who nurtures them tenderly, - since they are not punished in this world, and the cruel oppressor passes his life in ease while the unhappy oppressed live in hardship; and since the absolute justice whose traces are to be seen throughout the universe is entirely opposed to the cruel tyrant and despairing oppressed being equal in death, and would in no way permit it...

And since just as the universe's Owner has chosen the earth from the universe, and man from the earth and bestowed on him a high rank and importance; so out of mankind He has chosen the prophets, saints, and purified ones, true human beings who conform to the aims of His dominicality and through their belief and submission make Him love them; He has taken them as friends and addressees, and bestowed miracles and success on them and punished their enemies with heavenly blows. And out of these worthy and lovable friends He has chosen their leader and source of pride, Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), and for long centuries has illuminated with his Light half the globe and a fifth of humanity; as though the universe was created for him, all its purposes become apparent through him and his religion and the Qur'an. And although he deserved to live for an infinite time in recompense for his infinitely valuable service, for millions of years, he only lived a brief sixty-three years of great hardship and striving. Is there any possibility then that he should not be resurrected together with all his peers and friends? That they should not now be living in the spirit? That they should have been annihilated eternally? God forbid, a hundred thousand times! Yes, all the universe and the reality of the world demand that he should be resurrected and they beseech the universe's Owner that he should be living...

And since in the Seventh Ray, The Supreme Sign, each with the strength of a mountain, the thirty-three powerful consensuses have proved that the universe emerged from a single hand and is the property of a single being; and have demonstrated self-evidently His unity and oneness, the means of the divine perfections; and through unity and oneness all beings become like soldiers under orders and subservient officials; and with the coming of the hereafter, perfections are saved from decline, absolute justice from mocking cruelty, universal wisdom from foolish absurdity, all-embracing mercy from jeering torment, and the dignity of power from abased impotence, and they are exonerated from this...

Certainly and without any doubt, as necessitated by the truths in these six 'sinces' - six out of hundreds of points of belief in God - the end of the world shall come and the resurrection of the dead occur. Abodes of reward and punishment shall be thrown open so that the above-mentioned importance of the earth, and its centrality, and man's importance and value shall be realized, and the above-mentioned justice, wisdom, mercy, and sovereignty of the All-Wise Disposer, who is the Creator of the earth and of man, and their Sustainer, shall be established; and the true and yearning friends of that eternal Sustainer shall be saved from eternal annihilation; and the most eminent and worthy of those friends receive the recompense for his sacred services, which have made all beings pleased and indebted; and the perfections of the Eternal Sovereign should be exempted and exonerated from all fault and deficiency, and His power from impotence, and His wisdom from foolishness, and His justice from tyranny.

In Short: Since God exists, so does the hereafter certainly exist.

Moreover, just as with all the evidences that prove them, the above three pillars of belief testify to and indicate resurrection; so do the two pillars "and in the angels, and in divine determining, that both the good of it and the evil of it are from God Almighty" also necessitate resurrection and testify in powerful fashion to the eternal realm. It is like this:

All the evidences proving the existence of the angels and their duties of worship, and innumerable observations of them and conversations with them, prove indirectly the existence of the Spirit World, and the World of the Unseen; and the eternal realm and world of the hereafter, and the existence of an abode of happiness and Paradise and Hell, which in the future shall be populated with men and jinn. For with divine permission, the angels can see these worlds and enter them. And all the high-ranking angels who meet with humans, like Gabriel, tell unanimously of the existence of these worlds and of their travelling round them. Just as we are certain, due to the information of those coming from there, that the continent

of America exists, although we have not seen it, so due to information about the angels, which has the strength of a hundredfold consensus, we should believe with the same certainty in the existence of the world of eternity, the realm of the hereafter, and Paradise and Hell. And so we do believe in it.

Furthermore, all the evidences proving the pillar of "belief in divine determining," included in the Treatise on Divine Determining, the Twenty-Sixth Word, prove indirectly the resurrection of the dead, the balancing of deeds on the supreme scales, and the publishing of the pages of deeds. For the recording before our eyes of the appointed courses of all things on the tablets of order and balance, and the inscribing of the life-stories of all living beings in their faculties of memory, and the transcribing of the notebooks of deeds of all beings with spirits, and especially men, on the Preserved Tablet, such a comprehensive determining and wise apportioning and precise recording and preserving inscription could surely only be the result of a general judgement in a supreme tribunal set up to deal out permanent reward and punishment. That comprehensive and precise recording and preservation would otherwise be completely meaningless and purposeless, and contrary to wisdom and reality.

Also, if there was no resurrection, all the certain meanings of the book of the universe, written with the pen of divine determining, would be nullified, which is completely impossible. It is as impossible as denying the universe's existence, indeed, is a delirium.

In Short: With all their evidences the five pillars of belief demand the occurrence of the resurrection and Last Judgement, and their existence, and the existence and opening up of the realm of the hereafter, and they testify to these and necessitate them.

Thus, it is because there are such vast and unshakeable supports and proofs of the resurrection, completely in conformity with its vastness, that almost one third of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition is formed by resurrection and the hereafter, and it makes it the basis and foundation stone of all its truths, and constructs everything on it.

(The end of the Introduction)

The Tenth Proof

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.

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 {[*]:} and according to an authentic narration bears the degree of the Greatest Name. {[*]:} It consist of eleven phrases each of which convys both some good tidings, and a degree in the unity of dominicality (tevhid-i rubûbiyet), 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."]

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.

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 contains the following good news for the human spirit, subject as it is to countless needs and the attacks of innumerable enemies. On the one hand it 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 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 reach the point of being 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; because 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, it may not be said to someone seeking recourse: "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 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 İbrahim Hakkı: "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 itself a merciful favour a hundred times more pleasurable, you will be able to increase the pleasure a hundredfold.

Within the apple an august monarch presents to you is a pleasure superior to that of a hundred, rather a thousand, apples because 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. For this 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.

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 is 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 in them, which are 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 changing of the mirrors 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 you wretched ones! When you journey to the grave do not cry out in despair, "Alas! Everything we owned is destroyed, all our efforts 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 going to 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, 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.

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 sphere 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 not enter the grave weeping, but smiling with 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 sphere of unity. You are bound not for separation, but for union."

The Eleventh Proof

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

So God sets forth parables for men, so that they may bear [them] in mind. {[*]:} * Such are the similitudes which we propound to men that they may reflect? {[*]:}

One time two men were washing in a pool. Under some extraordinary influence they lost their senses and when they opened their eyes, they saw that it had transported them to a strange land. The land was such that with its perfect order it was like a country, or rather a town, or a palace. They looked around themselves in complete bewilderment: if it was looked at in one way, a vast world was apparent; if in another, a well-ordered country; and if in another, a fine town. And if it was looked at in still another way, it was a palace which comprised a truly magnificent world. Travelling around this strange world, they observed it and saw that creatures of one sort were speaking in a fashion, but they did not understand their language. Nevertheless, it was understood from their signs that they were performing important works and duties.

One of the two men said to his friend: "This strange world must have someone to regulate it, and this orderly country must have a lord, and this fine town, an owner, and this finely made palace, a master builder. We must try to know him, for it is understood that it was he who brought us here. If we do not recognize him, who will help us? What can we await from these impotent creatures whose language we do not know and who do not heed us? Moreover, surely one who makes a vast world in the form of a country, town, and palace, and fills it from top to bottom with wonderful things, and embellishes it with every sort of adornment, and decks it out with instructive miracles wants something from us and from those that come here. We must get to know him and find out what he wants."

The other man said: "I do not believe it, that there is a person such as the one you speak of, and that he governs this whole world on his own."

His friend replied to him: "If we do not recognize him and remain indifferent towards him, there is no advantage in it at all, and if it is harmful, its harm will be immense. Whereas if we try to recognize him, there is little hardship involved, and if there is benefit, it will be great. Therefore, it is in no way sensible to remain indifferent towards him."

The foolish man said: "I consider all my ease and enjoyment to lie in not thinking of him. Also, I am not going to bother with things that make no sense to me. All these things are the confused objects of chance, they are happening by themselves. What is it to me?"

His intelligent friend replied: "This obstinacy of yours will push me, and a lot of others, into disaster. It sometimes happens that a whole country is laid waste because of one ill-mannered person."

So the foolish man turned to him and said: "Either prove to me decisively that this large country has a single lord and single maker, or leave me alone."

His friend replied: "Your obstinacy is such it is lunacy, and you will be the cause of some disaster being visited on use So I shall show you twelve proofs demonstrating that this world which is like a palace, and country which is like town, has a single maker and that it is only he who runs and administers everything. He is completely free of all deficiency. This maker, who does not appear to us, sees us and everything, and hears our words. All his works are miracles and marvels. All these creatures whom we see but whose tongues we do not understand are his officials."

First Proof

Come and look carefully at everything around you: a hidden hand is working within all these works. For something which has not even an ounce of strength, {(*):} something as small as a seed, is raising a load of thousands of pounds. And something that does not have even a particle of intelligence {(*):} is performing extremely wise and purposeful works. That means they are not working by themselves, but that a hidden possessor of power is causing them to work. If they were independent, it would necessitate all the works which we see everywhere in this land being miracles and everything to be a wonder-working marvel. And that is nonsense.

Second Proof

Come, look carefully at the things which adorn all these plains, fields, and dwellings! There are marks on each telling of that hidden one. Simply, each gives news of Him like a seal or stamp. Look in front of your eyes: what does He make from one ounce of cotton? {(*):} See how many rolls of cloth, fine linen, and flowered material have come out of it. See how many sugared delights and round sweets are being made. If thousands of people like us were to clothe themselves in them and eat them, they would still be sufficient. And look! He has taken a handful of iron, water, earth, coal, copper, silver, and gold, and made some flesh {(*):} out of them. Look at that and see! O foolish one! These works are particular to such a one that all this land together with all its parts is under his miraculous power and is submissive to his every wish.

Third Proof

Come, look at these mobile works of art! {(*):} Each has been fashioned in such a way that it is simply a miniature sample of the huge palace. What- ever there is in the palace, it is found in these tiny mobile machines. Is it at all possible that someone other than the palace's maker could come and include the wondrous palace in a tiny machine? Also, is it at all possible that although he has included a whole world in a machine the size of a box, there could be anything in it that was purposeless or could be attributed to chance? That means that however many skilfully fashioned machines you can see, each is like a seal of that hidden one. Rather, each is like a herald or proclamation. Through their tongues of disposition they are saying: "We are the art of One who can make this entire world of ours as easily and simply as He created us."

Fourth Proof

O my stubborn friend! Come, I shall show you something even stranger. Look! All these works and things in this land have changed and are changing. They do not stop in any one state. Note carefully that each of these

lifeless bodies and unfeeling boxes has taken on the form of being absolutely dominant. Quite simply it is as though each rules all the others. Look at this machine next to us; {(*):} it is as though issuing commands; all the necessities and substances necessary for its adornment and functioning come hastening to it from distant places. Look over there: that lifeless body {(*):} is as though beckoning; it makes the largest bodies serve it and work in its own workplace. Make further analogies in the same way.

Simply, everything subjugates to itself all the beings in this world. If you do not accept the existence of that hidden one, you have to attribute all his skills, arts, and perfections in the stones, earth, animals, and creatures resembling man everywhere in this land to the things themselves. In place of a single wonder-working being, which your mind deems unlikely, you have to accept millions like him, who are both opposed to one another, and similar, and one within the other, so they do not cause confusion everywhere and the order be spoiled. Whereas if two fingers meddle in a country, they cause confusion. For if there are two headmen in a village, or two governors in a town, or two kings in a country, the result is chaos. So what about an infinite, absolute ruler?

Fifth Proof

O my sceptical friend! Come, look carefully at the inscriptions of this vast palace, look at all the adornments of the town, see the ordering of this whole land, and reflect on all the works of art in this world! See! If these inscriptions are not worked by the pen of one hidden who possesses infinite miracles and skills and are attributed to unconscious causes, to blind chance and deaf nature, then every stone and every plant in this land has to be an inscriber so wondrous it can write a thousand books in every letter and include millions of works of art in a single inscription. Because look at the inscription on these stones, {(*):} in each are the inscriptions of all the palace, and the laws ordering all the town, and the programmes for organizing

the whole country. That means that it is as wonderful to make these inscriptions as to make the whole country. In which case, all the inscriptions, all the works of art, are proclamations of that hidden one, and seals of his.

Since a letter cannot exist without showing the one who wrote it, and an artistic inscription cannot exist without making known its inscriber, how is it that an inscriber who writes a huge book in a single letter and inscribes a thousand inscriptions in a single inscription, should not be known through his writing and through his inscribing?

Sixth Proof

Come, let us go out onto this broad plain. {(*):} On it is a high mountain whose summit we shall climb to so that we can see all the surrounding country. We shall take with us a good pair of binoculars which will bring everything close, for strange things are happening in this strange land. Every hour things are taking place that we could not imagine. Look! These mountains, plains, and towns are suddenly changing. And how? In such a way that millions of things are being changed in a most regulated and orderly fashion one within the other. Truly wondrous transformations are being wrought, just as though millions of various cloths are being woven one within the other. Look! These flowery things which we know and are familiar with are disappearing and others have come in their place in orderly fashion which resemble them in nature but are different in form. It is quite simply as though this plain and the mountains are each a page, and within them are being written hundreds of thousands of different books. And they are being written faultlessly and without defect.

It is impossible a hundred times over that these matters should have come about on their own. Yes, for these works which are skilfully and carefully fashioned to an infinite degree to have occurred on their own is impossible a thousand times, for rather than themselves, they show the artist who fashioned them. Moreover, the one who did this displays such miracles that nothing at all could be difficult for him. It is as easy for him to write a thousand books as to write one book. Look all around you; he both puts everything in its proper place with perfect wisdom, and he munificently showers the favours on everyone of which they are worthy, and he draws back and opens general veils and doors so bountifully that everyone's

desires are satisfied. And he sets up tables so generously that a feast of bounties is given to all the people and animals of this land; each group and individual is given one particular and suitable for it, even. So, is there anything more impossible in the world than that there should be anything attributable to chance in these matters that we see, or that among these matters that we see there is anything purposeless or vain, or that many hands should be interfering in them, or that their maker should not be capable of everything, or that everything should not be subjugated to him? And so, my friend, find a pretext in the face of these if you can!

Seventh Proof

Come, my friend! Now we shall leave these particular matters and turn our attention to the mutual positions of the parts of this wondrous world in the form of a palace. Look! Universal works are being carried out and general revolutions are occurring in this world with such order that all the rocks, earth, trees, everything in this palace, observe the universal systems of the world, and conform to them as if each was acting with will. Things which are distant hasten to assist one another. Now look, a strange caravan {(*):} has appeared, coming from the Unseen. The mounts in it resemble trees, plants, and mountains. Each bears a tray of provisions on its head. And look, they are bringing the provisions for the various animals awaiting them on this side. And see, the mighty electric lamp {(*):} in that dome both furnishes them with light, and cooks all their food so well that the foods to be cooked are each attached to a string {(*):} by an unseen hand and held up before it. And on this side, see these wretched, weak, powerless little animals; how before their heads are attached two small pumps {(*):} full of delicate sustenance, like two springs; it is enough for those powerless creatures to only press their mouths against them.

In Short: Just as all the things throughout the world look to one another, so they help one another. And just as they see one another, so they co-operate with one another. And just as they perfect each other's works, so too they support one another; standing shoulder to shoulder, they work together. Make analogies with this for everything; they are uncountable. Thus, all these things demonstrate as decisively as two plus two equals four

that everything is subjugated to the maker of this wondrous palace, that is, to the owner of this strange world. Everything is like a soldier under his command. Everything turns through his strength. Everything acts through his command. Everything is set in order through his wisdom. Everything helps the others through his munificence. Everything hastens to the assistance of the others through his compassion, that is, they are made to hasten to it. Now, my friend, say something in the face of this if you can!

Eighth Proof

Come, my foolish friend who thinks himself reasonable like my soul! You do not want to recognize the owner of this magnificent palace! But everything shows him, points to him, testifies to him. How can you deny the testimony of all these things? You have therefore to deny the palace as well, and say: "There is no world, no country." Deny yourself, too, and disappear! Or else come to your senses and listen to me! Now, look, there are uniform elements and minerals inside the palace and encompassing the land. {(*):} Simply, everything appearing in the country is made of those elements. That means, whoever those things belong to, everything made of them is also his. Whoever the field belongs to, the crops are his too. And whoever the sea belongs to, the things within it are also his.

And look, these textiles, these decorated woven materials, are being made out of a single substance. It is self-evidently the same person who brings the substance, prepares it, and makes it into string. For such a work would not permit the participation of others. In which case, all the woven, skilfully made things are particular to him.

And look! Every sort of these woven, manufactured goods is found in every part of the country; they have spread with all their fellows, and are being made and woven together and one within the other, in the same way, at the same instant. That means they are the work of the same person and the same act through a single command, otherwise their correspondence and conformity at the same instant, in the same fashion, of the same sort, would be impossible. In which case, each of these skilfully fashioned things is like a proclamation of that hidden one which points to him. As if each sort of flowered material, each ingenious machine, each sweet mouthful, is a stamp of that miracle-displaying person; a stamp of his, a mark, a

decoration; each says through the tongue of disposition: "Whose-ever work of art I am, the boxes and shops where I am found are also his property." Each inscription says: "Whoever wove me also wove the roll of cloth of which I am a part." Every sweet mouthful says: "Whoever makes me and cooks me, the cauldron in which I am is also his." And every machine says: "Whoever made me, also makes all those like me who have spread throughout the land, and the one who raises us in every part of it, is also he. That means he is also the country's owner. In which case, whoever the owner of all this country and palace is, he may be our owner too."

For example, in order to be the true owner of a single cartridge-belt or even a button belonging to the government, one also has to own all the factories in which they are made. If a bragging irregular soldier claims otherwise, he will be told: "They are government property." And they will be taken from him, and he will be punished.

In Short: Just as the elements in this country all surround and encompass it, and their owner can only be one who owns the whole country, in the same way, since the works of art that are spread throughout it resemble one another and display a single stamp, they show that they are the art of a single person who governs everything.

And so, my friend! There is a sign of oneness, a stamp of unity, in this country, that is, this magnificent palace. For while being the same, certain things are all-encompassing. And while being numerous, some display a unity or similarity, since they resemble one another and are found everywhere. As for unity, it shows One of Unity. That means that its maker, owner, lord, and fashioner has to be one and the same. In addition, look carefully at this: from behind the veil of the unseen a thickish string has appeared. {(*):} Now look, thousands of strings have hung down from it. And see the tips of the strings: a diamond, a decoration, a favour, a gift has been attached to each. Suitable presents are being given to everyone. Do you know what a lunatic action it is not to recognize or thank the one who stretches out from behind the strange veil of the unseen such wondrous favours and gifts. Because if you do not recognize him, you will be compelled to say: "These strings are making the diamonds and other gifts on their tips themselves and offering them." Then you have to attribute to each string the meaning of a king. Whereas before our eyes an unseen hand is making the strings too, and attaching the gifts to them. That means, everything

in this palace points to that miracle-displaying one rather than to themselves. If you do not recognize him, through denying them, you fall a hundred times lower than an animal.

Ninth Proof

Come, my unreasoning friend! You do not recognize this palace's owner, and you do not want to recognize him because you deem his existence unlikely. You deviate into denial because you cannot comprehend with your narrow brain his wondrous arts and acts, whereas the true unlikelihood, real difficulties, hardships, and awesome trouble lie in not recognizing him. For if we recognize him, this whole palace, this world, becomes as easy, as trouble-free as a single thing; it becomes the means to the abundance and plenty around us. If we do not recognize him and he does not exist, then everything becomes as difficult as this whole palace, because everything is as skilfully made as the palace. Then neither the abundance nor the plenty would remain. Indeed, not one of these things which we see would pass to anyone's hand, let alone ours. Look at just the jar of conserve attached to this string. {(*):} If it had not emerged from his hidden, miracle-displaying kitchen, we could not have bought it for a hundred liras, although we buy it now for forty para. {[*]:}

Yes, all unlikelihood, difficulty, trouble, arduousness, indeed, impossibility, lies in not recognizing him. For a tree is given life from one root, through one law, in one centre, and the formation of thousands of fruits is as easy as one fruit. But if the fruits were tied to different centres and roots, and different laws, each fruit would be as difficult to produce as the tree. And if the equipping of an entire army is in one centre, through one law, and from one factory, it is as easy in respect of quantity as equipping a single soldier. While if each soldier is equipped from all different places, then to equip one soldier there would have to be as many factories as for the entire army.

Just like these two examples, if, in this well-ordered palace, this fine town, this advanced country, this magnificent world, the creation of all things is attributed to a single being, it becomes so easy, so light, it is the reason for the infinite abundance, availability, and munificence we see. Otherwise everything would become so expensive, so difficult, that if the whole world was given to someone, they could not obtain them.

Tenth Proof

Come, my friend, who has come a little to his senses! We have been here fifteen days {(*):} now. If we do not know the regulations of this world and do not recognize its king, we shall deserve punishment. We have no excuse, because for fifteen days, as though given a respite, they did not interfere with us. Of course we have not just been left to our own devices. We cannot wander around among these delicate, well-balanced, subtle, skilfully made and instructive creatures like an animal and spoil them; they would not permit us to harm them. The penalties of this country's august king are bound to be awesome. You can understand how powerful and majestic he is from the way he orders this huge world as though it were a palace, and makes it revolve like a machine. He administers this large country like a house, missing nothing. See, like filling a container and emptying it, he continuously fills this palace, this country, this town, with perfect order, and empties it with perfect wisdom. Like spreading out a table then clearing it away, varieties of foods are brought in turn and given to eat in the form of a great variety of tables {(*):} being laid out by an unseen hand in every part of his vast country, and then being cleared away. The unseen hand clears away one, then brings another in its place. You see this too, and if you use your head, you will understand that within that awesome majesty is an infinitely munificent liberality.

And see, just as all these things testify to that unseen one's sovereignty and unity, so too these revolutions and changes which pass on in succession like caravans and are opened and closed from behind that true veil, testify to his continuance and permanence. For the causes of things disappear along with them. Whereas the things which we attribute to them, which follow on after them, are repeated. That means those works are not theirs, but the works of one who does not perish. It is understood from the the bubbles on the surface of a river disappearing and the bubbles which succeed them sparkling in the same way that what makes them sparkle is a constant and elevated possessor of light. Similarly, the speedy changing of things and the things that follow on after them assuming the same colours shows that they are the manifestations, inscriptions, mirrors, and works of art of one who is perpetual, undying, and single.

Eleventh Proof

Come, my friend! Now I shall show you a decisive proof as powerful as the ten previous ones. We shall board a boat, {(*):} and sail to a peninsula, far away. For the key to this riddle-filled world will be there. Moreover, everyone is looking to that peninsula and awaiting something from it; they are receiving orders from there. See, we are going there. Now we have arrived and have alighted on the peninsula. There is a vast gathering, a great concourse, as though all the important people of the country have gathered there. Look carefully, this great community has a leader. Come, we shall draw closer; we must become acquainted with him. Look! What brilliant decorations he has, more than a thousand of them. {(*):} How powerfully he speaks! How pleasant is his conversation! In these two weeks I have learnt a little of what he says. You learn them from me. See, he is speaking of this country's miracle-displaying king. He is saying that the glorious king sent him to us. And he is displaying such wonders that they leave no doubt that he is his special envoy. Look carefully, it is not only the creatures on this peninsula that are listening to what he says; he is making the whole country hear in wondrous fashion. For near and far everyone is trying to hear the speech here. It is not only humans that are listening, animals are listening too. Look, even the mountains are listening to the commands he brought so that they are stirring in their places, and the trees, too, move to the place that he indicates. He brings forth water from wherever he wishes. He even makes his fingers like a Spring of Kawthar, and gives to drink from them. Look, at his sign, an important lamp {(*):} in the dome of this palace splits into two. That means this country together with all its beings recognizes that he is an official and envoy. They heed and obey him, as though knowing that he is the most eminent and true interpreter of an unseen displayer of miracles, and the herald of his dominicality, the discloser of his talisman, and a trustworthy envoy delivering his commands. All those with intelligence

around him declare: "Yes, that is right!" about everything he says, and affirm it. Indeed, through submitting to his signs and commands, the mountains and trees in this country and the huge light {(*):} that illuminates it, say: "Yes, yes, everything you say is true!"

My foolish friend! Could there be any contradiction or deception concerning the miracle-displaying king about whom this most luminous, magnificent, and serious being, who bears a thousand decorations particular to the king's own treasury, is speaking with all his strength, confirmed by all the country's notables, and concerning the king's attributes which he mentions, and the commands which he relays? If there is anything contrary to the truth in these things, it will be necessary to deny this palace, these lamps, this community, both their reality and their existence. If you can, raise any objections against these; but you will see that they will be smashed by the power of the proof, and flung back at you.

Twelfth Proof

Come, my brother, who has come to his senses a little! I shall show you a further proof of the strength of all the eleven preceding proofs. See this luminous Decree, {(*):} which descends from above and which everyone looks on in rapt attention out of either wonder or veneration. The one with the thousand decorations has stopped by it and is explaining its meaning to everyone. The styles of the Decree so shine they attract everyone's appreciative gaze, and it speaks of matters so important and serious that everyone is compelled to give ear to them. For it describes all the qualities, acts, commands, and attributes of the one who governs this whole land, who made this palace, and exhibits these wonders. Just as there is a mighty stamp on the Decree as a whole, look! there is an inimitable seal on every line and every sentence, and, moreover, the meanings, truths, commands, and instances of wisdom it states are seen to be in a style particular to him, thus bearing the meaning of a stamp.

In Short: The Supreme Decree shows the Supreme Being as clearly as the sun, so that anyone who is not blind can see it.

My friend! If you have come to your senses, this is enough for now. If you have something to say, say it.

In reply, the obstinate man said: "I can only say this in the face of these

proofs of yours: All praise be to God for I have come to believe. And I believe in a way bright as the sun and clear as daylight that this country has a single King of Perfection, this world, a Single Glorious Owner, this palace, a Single Beauteous Maker. May God be pleased with you, for you have saved me from my former obstinacy and foolishness. Each of the proofs you showed was sufficient to demonstrate the truth. But because with each successive proof, clearer, pleasanter, more agreeable, more luminous, finer levels of knowledge, veils in acquaintanceship, and windows of love were opened and revealed, I waited and listened."

The story in the form of a comparison indicating the mighty truth of divine unity and belief in God has reached its conclusion. Through the grace of the Most Merciful, the effulgence of the Qur'an, and the light of belief, we shall now set out twelve 'Flashes' and an Introduction from the sun of true Divine unity corresponding to the twelve proofs in the story.

Success and Guidance are from God alone.

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.

The unsetting sun in the skies of the universe, the Noble Qur'an, spreads the rays its light so as to make read the creational signs of the great book of being, and to disclose their reality. Enlightening man's reason, the Qur'an points out the Straight Path. Through the light of that sun of guidance, all humanity may see and understand the aims, purposes, and desires in their creation. Relatively to the capacity of their hearts, those who receive the manifestation of its guidance reflect its light and gain proximity to it. The true nature of things and of life become apparent through that light; only through that light may they be seen and understood. Representing the lights of guidance of the Pre-Eternal Sun, the Qur' an makes truth and reality visible to the eyes of the heart and mind. Those who do not approach its light remain in darkness, for it is through light that everything is seen, known, and understood. In the present age, the collective personality of the Risale-i Nur, whose name is light (nûr), has received the manifestation of the Qur'an's light, the eternal sun of this truth.

Like a search-light, the Risale-i Nur directs those who like bats do not want to emerge from the darkness, and slumbering in heedlessness turn their day into night and understand no further than they see, towards the truths of belief; it points out the straight path to all who are not completely blind. It strikes its club of light on the heads of the disbelievers saying: "Either throw away your reasoning faculties and become animals, or use your heads and become true human beings !"

Since knowledge is light, we shall indicate briefly one or two evidences that the Risale-i Nur contains profound knowledge:

FirstIy: We should recall that since the Risale-i Nur recognized no master other than the Qur'an and it serves none other than the Qur'an, its acceptability goes without saying. Only, in order to inform scholars of the Risale-i Nur 's worth, I say this:

The Risale-i Nur proves and elucidates most convincingly and accessibly so that everyone from the simplest ordinary people to the most learned elite can understand them, obscure matters that previously no scholars of religion had been able to prove with complete clarity. Such a characteristic is to be found in virtually no other work.

Secondly is its demonstrating in all matters that it is a commentary on some of the Qur'an's verses, and flashes of its light.

Thirdly is its answering in scholarly fashion with certain proofs and arguments the deepest needs of human beings; for example, its proving God's existence, the life of the hereafter, and the other pillars of belief, and interpreting the testimony of minute particles, which they utter through the tongue of disposition. Ibn Sina, Farabi, and Ibn Rushd, the most eminent Islamic philosophers, demonstrated the evidence all beings offer in these matters, but the Risale-i Nur proves these truths through the tongues of minute particles and seeds of plants. If the philosophers had been shown the scholarly power of the Risale-i Nur, doubtless they would have humbly accepted it as their teacher.

Fourthly is its teaching in a short time in the form of compressed extracts knowledge that normally can be acquired only in years of study.

Fifthly is its being a means of winning divine pleasure, the chief aim of knowledge, and in no way exploiting that knowledge for worldly aims, its representing the highest duty, that of serving humanity.

Sixthly: Being the fruit of powerful, sacred thought on questions of belief, the Risale-i Nur interprets the language of all creatures, uttered through the tongues of their beings. Similarly, it discloses the truths of belief to the degrees of 'knowledge of certainty,' 'vision of certainty,' and 'absolute certainty.'

Seventhly is in respect of their principles, the Risale-i Nur 's comprising all the sciences. It is like a tapestry woven from threads of knowledge. It is a collection of succinct sayings, never before expressed by any scholar, which demonstrate its knowledge of all the sciences. Here, we offer a few by way of example, and recommend those who wish to gain a better idea of what the Risale-i Nur consists of as a whole, to refer to that ocean of knowledge.

1. Whoever created a mosquito's eye, created the sun.

2. Whoever ordered the butterfly's digestive system, arranged the solar system.

3. Power sufficient to create the whole universe is necessary to create a single particle. For every letter of the mighty book of the universe, especially its living letters, has a face and an eye that look to all the sentences.

4. Nature is a printing-press, it is not the printer. It is an embroidery, not the embroiderer. It is a pattern, not the source. It is an orderly system, not the orderer. It is a law, and has no power. It is a code of laws proceeding from will, and has no external reality.

5. Like fixed, permanent natural laws, spirit comes from the world of the

divine command and attribute of will. Power clothed it in a being decked out with senses, and made a subtle inner faculty the shell to that pearl.

The Risale-i Nur contains thousands of succinct sayings like these.

Dear, True Brothers!

From your letter we espied a ray from the sun of Islam; we understood that the Risale-i Nur, which has appeared to repair the damage caused to Islam over hundreds of years by the aggressive ideas of the disbelievers, is now spreading among the young people. Lovers of truth travelling the road to eternal life are giving up the empty words of fantasy to annihilate together with the Risale-i Nur the seeds of disbelief. Your letters spur us on to greater efforts. The Risale-i Nur, a Qur'anic commentary, tells us that it is the utmost stupidity at this time to remain in misguidance and not to struggle against unbelief. The most urgent task now when communism, anarchy, and freemasonry are all gaining strength is to serve the Risale-i Nur and to give it to those seeking it, so as to win divine pleasure. Even the severest attacks of those who want make us renege on this most important, worthy, and necessary duty of ours will only further fire our enthusiasm. The Risale-i Nur teaches us with proofs the following:

This world is a guesthouse. Those seeking eternal life are gratified to the extent they work diligently at their duties in the guesthouse. This means that our chief duty is to race to assist the followers of religion who want to be saved from the bog, whose parched hearts are choking on the darkness. And starting with ourselves to act as heralds of the Risale-i Nur. It is of supreme importance to continuously, attentively, and reflectively read the Risale-i Nur, to equip ourselves with the truths of the Qur'an and belief it contains, and in this way to gain a complete knowledge of it as quickly as possible. Everyone who receives this supreme bounty becomes tremendously useful for himself, his nation, and his country. He may become capable of serving both his country, and his nation, and youth, and the Islamic world. We are requesting the prayers of foremost our Master Bediuzzaman, and of you, who are worthy to be his true, sincere students, so that we may search, find, and acquire the books of the Risale-i Nur, read them carefully, reflectively, and with sincere intention, and hasten to serve the Qur'an and belief in this way. The evidences for the Risale-i Nur 's acceptability are so numerous, it is natural that all our fair-minded believing brothers should assist in its service.

Also, since the Risale-i Nur bears characteristics that look to this age in particular; and since it has been applauded by thousands of scholars; and since the champion Ustad Bediuzzaman acted as herald of the Qur'an, and incomparably, honestly, and with sound, true principles, dedicated his life to Islam and belief, seeking God's pleasure alone and eschewing all worldly benefits; and since the Risale-i Nur students also serve belief and Islam according to Sunni beliefs with all their lives and strength and seek no personal interests of any kind; and since hundreds of thousands of its students have proved this fact despite all the persecution and threats; and since all of them have been trained to reply logically and correctly to all the current false ideas of philosophy; and since the Qur'an answers all our needs and contains explicitly all the truths necessary for us; and since the Qur'an is the finest gift of Almighty God, and His light and mercy; it is true worship and a source of pleasure to read the Risale-i Nur attentively, continuously, and reflectively, since it teaches us about that treasury of divine mercy and source of truth in a way everyone may understand. It is a most effective panacea and remedy for us youths which affords true pleasure, and is a saviour. Not to embrace the Risale-i Nur with all our strength in the face of all these established facts, and not to study it in its entirety, could only be the result of heedless apathy.

Any true seeker after truth is bound to heed the Risale-i Nur 's lessons. And any illumined person who follows it is bound to attain true happiness and comprehend the true nature of things. We Ankara students of the Risale-i Nur agree unanimously about this. Proceeding from the Qur'an's light, which points to the treasury of eternal life, the Risale-i Nur 's silvery voice shall one day ring out all over the world.

According to a Hadith of the Prophet (PBUH), so long as they do not fall prey to worldly desires, Islamic scholars are the sure heirs of the prophets. We know the Risale-i Nur to be a true heir of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Its collective personality follows the principles of true heirdom. The blind, deaf, and soulless idiots which oppose it shall be humiliated. With supreme sense, the Risale-i Nur will have as its students all philosophers and scholars, and all people of sound mind and noble heart. This is not far away, God willing, and will happen soon. As many of those scholars have said, the world is on the threshold of a new formation; it is searching for light. Alluding to this, the poet Mehmed Âkif wrote:

"Now send that light, O God, long ages have passed;

This dispirited nation seeks the horizons of dawn."

Our Kind, Blessed, and Beloved Master!

Through your prayers and blessings, the more we read the Risale-i Nur with care and thought, the more we understand that it is a sublime work which solves and discloses the riddle of the universe, and the supreme guide of the present and future. Yes, anyone of intelligence who reads it, realizes that it will illuminate humanity both in this century and the next, and save it from the darkness of misguided thought.v

The Risale-i Nur was written to meet the needs of the world of Islam and all mankind, not only of this country and nation. Today, mankind is floundering in an unprecedented calamity, and there is nothing that will save it except embracing the Risale-i Nur and studying its various parts attentively and reflectively, whatever the price of obtaining it. Everyone who reads it accepts this fact. If we had the power, we would ascend to a spot overlooking the universe and would proclaim this to all the world. But since we cannot do this, and since to an extent, through our Master's blessings we have understood the Risale-i Nur 's universal value; we shall continuously read that effulgent source of knowledge and perfection, day and night at every opportunity and not waste one moment of our time; we shall constantly work at it. But this again will be thanks to our Master's prayers and blessings.

Moreover, it is clear that everyone, even the most eminent scholar, may be the student of the Risale-i Nur and its author; all are in need of reading it. If overcome by one's egotism, one fails to do this, the loss is his entirely. As for us, in the face of this sublime truth which we perceive, we are incapable of expressing our gratitude to mankind's saviour and the dominical official overspreading millions of human beings. But still, through your prayers and blessings, we have understood that we are unable to repay even the amount we benefit from a single line of this wondrous work, which is a miracle of the Noble Qur'an. We therefore only beseech Almighty God as follows:

"O Lord! Preserve our beloved, kindly Master from the machinations of his tryannical enemies, for through his incomparable work, the Risale-i Nur, he has delivered us from everlasting imprisonment and offered us the key to a treasury of truths that may gain for us happiness in an eternal realm. Always grant him success in his service of the Qur'an and belief, and bestow good health on him, and well-being, and long life!"

Dear Master! We, a number of young people at university who have received the supreme bounty of studying the Risale-i Nur attentively and reflectively, believe, not just conjecturally or through having a good intention

but as a result of close study and investigation, and with unshakeable certainty based on knowledge, that Bediuzzaman will succeed in freeing the face of the earth from irreligion and atheism, which this age has given rise to appalling savagery never ever witnessed before.

This conviction of ours is not merely simplemindedness or a surmise, but based on reasoned evidence and investigation. Even those opposed to it will assent to this fact with all their hearts. Kindly continue to pray for us so that we may devote ourselves to the service of the Qur'an and belief, and study the Risale-i Nur never wasting a moment of our time, and write it out, and acquire complete sincerity.

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

And from Him do we seek help!

[The preface to Bediuzzaman's official biography, written by an eminent scholar living in Madina al-Munawwara.]

In the preface I wrote about the great Iqbal, I said: "When reading about the lives of great people, and lofty memories of them, and stories, one feels one has entered another world. One's heart is seared by the pure fire of love and is enveloped in a divine effusion. History sometimes tells us of men so great others seem small in comparison.

When recalling the great who honoured history,

The spirit rises to broad worlds from the earth;

It is flooded with a thousands scents

From the rose gardens of the Paradise of the past.

This profound truth overwhelms me in all its splendour as I write this preface. For the work I am presenting to our esteemed readers with all sincerity and good will, belongs to the conqueror of hearts, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, every stage of whose long and fruitful life of nearly a century witnessed thousands of wonders; and to his Risale-i Nur Collection, which consists of one hundred and thirty parts; and to the Risale-i Nur Students, whose fine conduct and virtues, sincerity and good will, belief and knowledge, offer worthy examples not only to one age group in one country, but to the whole world of humanity.

The introduction to a book is said to summarize the work, but how could the contents of this mighty book, every topic of which is too pro- found and comprehensive to be contained in a single independent work, be contained in the few pages of the introduction?

Never in anything I have written, either poetry or prose, have I felt myself to be at such a loss and so bewildered. So those who will read this work with real pleasure, divine happiness, and joyous excitement, will be amazed to see that from his childhood Bediuzzaman was a distinguished scholar whose education was exceptional and who throughout his life was the recipient of divine manifestations.

Having studied this great human being in the minutest detail, as well as his works and students, and having lived in that world of light with my spirit, mind, and senses, I learnt through some lines of an ancient Arab poet that he expressed a most profound truth: "It is not difficult for Almighty God to bring together in one person the whole world."

The numbers are every day increasing of those who, receiving effulgent inspiration from the loftiness of his goal and cause, and the sublimity of his belief, are drawn to this spiritual pole. This amazing fact on the one hand angers the deniers, and on the other delights the believers. See how a great mujahid described this divine phenomenon, which is like a bond in the hearts of believers, in an incomparable style that addresses the heart:

"At this black time when the flooding filth of immorality threatens to sweep down in every direction and carry away whatever virtue exists, I find solace in seeing that the outflowing of his, that is, Bediuzzaman's, grace passes from heart to heart like a secret, swelling to irresistible proportions. Our nights have indeed become dark, but the darkest hour presages the coming dawn."

Yes, everyone who in every part of the country sees the effulgent effects of this irresistible light, spreading from heart to heart, asks in amazement: "Who is this person whose fame has spread to every corner of the country? What sort of person is he? What has he written? What is his outlook? Has he founded a Sufi order, or a religious community, or a political organization?"

More than this, there have been numerous enquiries instigated by the government and judiciary, and there have been lengthy investigations and protracted court cases. But these have all concluded that this divine manifestation consists only of "a faith movement" established in people's hearts. Divine justice has been manifested in this way; Bediuzzaman Said Nursi and his works have been formally acquitted. And now the eternally immutable divine laws, that spirit will always prevail over matter, truth over falsehood, light over darkness, and belief over denial, have appeared like the sun.

It is said the truest criterion for judging the nature, integrity, truth, and sincerity of a reformer of any sort, is the differences in his personal, social, and spiritual life from the day he first annouced his cause and the day he won victory.

For example, in the early days of his mission, he is modest, generous, self-sacrificing, and humble; he is a perfectly upright and honest, distinguished by his example of virtue and morality. But how is he when he triumphs in his jihad, and he is beloved and feted by everyone; is he still the model of sobriety? Or like many supposedly great persons, drunken with victory, does he become arrogant and overweening?

This is the clearest mirror for displaying the true nature and character of any man with a cause, great or small.

Throughout history, the most brilliant examples of those who have won

this terrible trial, have been furnished by firstly the prophets, and especially the Lord of the Prophets (Peace and blessings be upon him), then his Companions and successors, and then the great persons who have followed in his way.

With his miraculous eloquence, the Prophet pointed out with his saying: "The scholars are the heirs of the prophets," that it is no easy matter to be a scholar of religion. For since they are the heirs of the prophets, they have to adhere faithfully to the path of the prophets in questions of truth and its dissemination - even if it passes over rocky mountain, wilderness, muddy bog, stony desert, or abyss; or worse, if they suffer arrest, trial, and imprisonment; exile, isolation, poison, and the gallows; and whatever other unimaginable forms of persecution, oppression, and torture.

Bediuzzaman was such a person; all his life he trod that rough path and for over half a century pursued that sacred jihad, overcoming as lightning the innumerable obstacles confronting him, and proving by act that he was a scholar who was heir to the prophets.

Of all his numerous virtues, scholarly, moral, and literary, what captivates me most was his belief; it was firmer than mountains, deeper than the ocean, and broader than the skies. O Lord, what sublime belief! What enduring, inexhaustible patience! What a steel will! His head unbowed, his voice unlowered, his breath uncaught, despite all that oppression, repression, torment, and torture, which make one shudder.

At a time I wrote the poem called Mujahid, with the ebullient inspiration I received from the great Iqbal's poetry, some readers suggested that the following lines went too far in their poetic extravagance. However, any- one who reads the masterpiece for which I am writing this introduction, will understand some of God Almighty's servants can do anything and everything if their belief reaches the point of perfection!

If resolve enters a believing heart,

And a person reaches the final point of belief,

The bloodiest death will not restrain him,

A volcano's molten lava will not halt him.

The inspiration from his Lord strengthens his resolve,

Every night the Prophet appears to him in dreams.

Light is the constant mihrab of his believing heart,

Worldly light cannot illumine his horizon.

Neither blizzard nor storm nor pain disconcerts him;

All his life he passes in the cool summer shade.

While here he beholds the worlds of Paradise,

Like a mountain chain, unbending under ruinous blows.

Even if towering cliffs press in on him,

The moon sets, the sun dies, the sky darkens,

And the skies fall - still he does not abdicate his way,

The torch of belief in his spirit never flickers.

How sacred his belief, surging up in his heart!

Traveller, hasten on! The dawn's breaking, don't tarry!

Grasp the torch! Streak the darkness with crimson and ochre!

Step up to the stars, rise to lofty worlds!

A hand's stretched down from Paradise to save humanity.

These lines were as though written for Bediuzzaman, the hero of belief and supreme mujahid. For these are his attributes. See what Almighty God promises the mujahids in this verse:

And those who strive in Our [cause] - We will certainly guide them to Our paths; for indeed, God is with those who do right; [29:69] that is, with those strivers who worship God as though they were seeing Him.

Thus, Almighty God promises that He will point out the ways of truth and guidance to those who strive to their utmost for the sake of the Qur'an and belief, renouncing the world and their own selves. Almighty God never breaks his promise; however, the conditions have to be met so that the promise can be fulfilled.

The verse illuminates us as to how we should understand Ustad's character and personality; in its shining light, we can perceive its finest, most subtle points. Because a person who receives the bounty of Almighty God's protection no longer feels such things as fear, anxiety, sorrow, distress, boredom, and so on.

What clouds can darken the skies of a heart illumined with God's light? What fleeting hopes and desires, what wretched favours and bounties, what vulgar goals and ambitions can satisfy the spirits of God's servants who attain to a constant sense of His presence?

Allah is his friend, preceptor, and protector;

All his senses and feelings turn into light on recalling Him!

Continuously rising to climes of knowledge,

What horizons the Qur'an unfolds in his spirit!

It recalls to him the vow of "Am I not your Lord?'

Since pre-eternity the lover is intoxicated with that emanation.

Thus, Bediuzzaman was an exceptional person who received grace so

wondrous, prisons were transformed into rose gardens, from where eternal light-filled vistas opened up for him. The gallows were pulpits for offering guidance, from where he instructed humanity in patience and steadfastness in pursuing a lofty aim, and in courage and firmness. Prisons all became Schools of Joseph (Medrese-i Yusufiye), which he entered as a professor enters a university to teach. For the prisoners were his students, in need of his effulgent guidance. His greatest happiness was to each day save the belief of a handful of people and to transform criminals into angels.

Doubtless, with his elevated consciousness of belief and sincerity, leaving behind him in the dense world of matter the gilded effects of time and space, he rose in his spirit to the pure luminous climes of the non-physical worlds.

The lofty degree defined by the great figures of Sufism (May God be pleased with them) as 'annihilation in God' and 'permanence in God,' is to attain to this sacred honour.

Yes, all believers have their own particular states of veneration, spiritual advancement, withdrawal, and absorption in God. And every person may receive the outflowing of this divine pleasure proportionately to his belief and knowledge, piety and good works, effulgence and spirituality. But the great mujahids, called "those who do right" in the above verse, experience this sweet state of union perpetually. It is because of this that they do not forget their Maker. Like lions, they spend all their lives fighting. Every breath, they progress and advance to greater heights. Their whole beings are dissolved in the pleasure of the Lord of All the Worlds, with His attributes of beauty, perfection, and glory.

May Almighty God include us among that class of the great! Amen.

Above we mentioned Ustad's tremendous belief, which filled his enemies with fear as much as it captivated those who loved him. Now we shall describe his exceptional personal qualities, morals, and perfections, which enveloped him like a halo of light.

As is known, everyone possesses different qualities. Ustad's personality was formed by the following qualities:

His Self-Abnegation and Unselfishness

Self-abnegation or unselfishness is the quality most necessary for a man with a cause, and especially a reformer, if he is to be successful. For people tend to scrutinize this most important point with the closest attention. Ustad's life is full of brilliant examples of his unselfishness.

I once heard the great scholar 'Allama Shaykh al-Islam Mustafa Sabri

say about self-abnegation: "Today Islam needs such mujahids that they are prepared to sacrifice their lives not only in this world, but in the hereafter as well."

I did not grasp these words entirely at the time, and equated them with the mysterious utterances of Sufis in ecstasy, and did not repeat them to everyone.

Then, on reading the same thing among Bediuzzaman's fiery writings, I understood that this was the measure of lofty person's self-abnegation. Would our most munificent God, the Most Merciful of the Merciful, abandon the mujahids who are happy to practise such bitter self-abnegation for Islam? Would it befit Him to deprive such devoted servants of His favour and munificence, His grace and mercy?

Bediuzzaman was the most brilliant example of this manifestation. He remained single all his life, forgoing completely all the licit pleasures of this world. He found neither the time nor the opportunity to found a home and lead a happy family life. But Almighty God bestowed such blessings on him, transient pens are incapable of describing their magnificence.

Is the head of any family today as happy as Bediuzzaman? Is there any father who has millions of children? And what children! Is there any Ustad and Master who has raised so many students?

With divine permission, this sacred, spiritual bond will endure as long as the world exists and will pour into eternity, a flood of light. For this divine cause has crystallized from the Qur'an's ocean of light; it is born of the Qur'an and will exist together with it.

His Compassion and Kindness

Our great Master discovered truth even in his childhood. Retiring into caves to listen to the cries of his heart and to commune with his spirit, he attained knowledge of God and the joy of the sense of His presence through worship, contemplation, and reflection.

But at that awful time when the black waves of disbelief and atheism were threatening to engulf the Islamic world as well as our country, he sprang into the arena of jihad like a lion springing up from its lair or an erupting volcano. He sacrificed ease and comfort of every sort for this sacred cause. It is because of this that from that day forward all his words were like lava, all his ideas like molten rock. They scorch the hearts on which they fall, causing emotions and ideas to burst into flame.

Our great Master resembles Imam al-Ghazzali in that he returned to guiding others and the life of society after a period of complete retirement and isolation, undergoing similar significant stages.

This suggests that Almighty God lays the duties of guidance and illumination on great guides when they have undergone a period of purification and training in seclusion. As soon as the breaths, now purer than distilled water, leave their breasts and are reflected in people's hearts, their effect is something quite other.

The victories al-Ghazzali won nine hundred years ago in the field of virtue and morality, Bediuzzaman won this century in the arena of belief and sincerity.

Yes, it was always his unparalleled kindness and compassion that drove our Master to fight in this awesome jihad. Let's listen to how he describes it:

"They ask me: Why do you attack this and that? So I tell them: I wasn't aware of it. There is a great conflagration before me, the flames of which are touching the skies. My children are burning in it. My belief has caught fire too, and is burning. I am racing to put out the fire and save my belief. If someone wants to hold me up on the way, or I trip on him, what importance has it? What importance has such a minor incident in the face of that conflagration? Narrow minds! Narrow views

His Self-Sufficiency and Independence

The thousands of examples of Ustad's self-sufficiency and independence which he provided throughout his life for every level of society, are well-known to everyone. He adopted as his way of life reliance on the inexhaustible treasury of the Lord of all the worlds, both physically and spiritually, and was completely self-sufficient in the face of all things other than God. This was not merely a habit. He always persisted in this whatever the cost.

Interestingly, this way has not remained limited to himself; he passed it on to his students as a sacred ideal. One cannot help but applaud this self- sufficiency of the Nur students, who have the honour of becoming submerged in the ocean of the Risale-i Nur.

See how in the Second Letter in his masterpiece Mektûbat, Ustad explains this important point in six aspects with all the nobility of belief and consciousness of knowledge:

"The First: The people of misguidance accuse religious scholars of making their learning a means of subsistence. They attack them unfairly, saying: 'They are making knowledge and religion a means of livelihood for themselves.' It is necessary to show this to be false by action.

"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 display independence."

The divine triumphs the Risale-i Nur manifests are all the wondrous results and examples of Ustad's heroic fortitude in adhering to this way of the prophets. Thanks to this, he preserved the dignity of learning as though it were a priceless sword. How could a person not be a conqueror of hearts who, unlike everyone else, had not the slightest connection with salaries, ranks, wealth, and the many other personal, material benefits? How could believing hearts not be filled to repletion with the outpouring of his light?

His Frugality

Frugality is nothing other than an elucidation of the self-sufficiency mentioned above. Anyway, it is through the door of self-sufficiency that one may enter the palace of frugality. For the two necessitate one another.

For a mujahid like Ustad who has taken the prophets as his model in this matter, frugality becomes second nature and he suffices daily with a dish of soup, a glass of water, and a piece of bread. For as the fair-minded French poet Lamartine said, such persons "do not live to eat, but eat to live."

Having gained a thorough understanding of Ustad's outlook and way of living, it seems inappropriate to equate his elevated frugality with such mundane things as eating and drinking; for it needs to applied on the spiritual plane and to be measured according to non-material criteria.

For example, Ustad was a genius who evaluated the power of this elevated frugality not only in terms of simple things like food, drink, and dress, but so that non-physical, abstract values like thought, brainpower, potentialities, abilities, time, occasions, the soul, and breathing should not be wasted and go for nothing. This careful thought and accounting, which in the course of his life became a part of his character, he instilled in his students. So it is not easy to get a Nur student to listen to any work or to listen to anything that is said. For the words "Watch out!" are inscribed on the focal point of their hearts, where they perform a careful supervisory function.

Thus, the immaculate generations Bediuzzaman raised prove in fact that he was a powerful reformer and extraordinarily effective educator. He was a rare jewel of creation who added a new page, written in flashes of light, to the history of frugality.

His Modesty and Humility

These two qualities have been profoundly effective in the extraordinary spread of the Risale-i Nur worldwide. For in his works and talks Ustad did

not accord himself such titles as Qutb al-'Ârifîn (Pole of the Adepts) or Gawth al-Wâsilîn (Help of those who reach union with God), so people warmed to him immediately, loved him with pure sincerity, and adopted his lofty aims.

For example, he addressed many of his talks and teachings about morality and virtue, wisdom and instructive events to his own soul. It was only at his own self that he directed his fiery addresses. From there they spread outwards, from centre to periphery, to people's hearts yearning for light and joy, happiness and peace.

In his private life, Ustad was extremely mild and modest. He would be infinitely careful not to hurt a minute particle, let alone a person. He would endure untold difficulties and hardships, deprivations and torments, but only on condition no attack was being made on belief and the Qur'an.

If that were to happen, then you would see that the calm sea had raised waves that touched the skies in their awesomeness and ire. For he was a faithful servant of the Qur'an and a valiant, devoted soldier patrolling the marches of belief. He expressed this in the following succinct words: "A soldier on duty never lays down his rifle, even if the commander-in-chief appears. I am such a soldier and servant of the Qur'an: whoever aggressively confronts me while I'm on duty, I shall point out the truth to them and never bow before them."

Like a rearing horse, I'll pull on its bloody bit;

I won't sell my identity to the cunning enemy.

For me to lose my identity is captivity;

What torment to suffer such abasement!

I ever yearn for unending union;

My belief is a citadel, built by the hand of power.

How happy my heart at this sacred ambition;

My martyr forebears have long awaited me in heaven.

My life is eternal so long as my spirit lives;

Death is departure for Allah, and union sublime.

Originally, I wanted to study Ustad's scholarly, Sufi, and literary sides, as well as his ideas. But I realized that these most profound and comprehensive subjects could not be summarized in a few pages, and so decided to mention them in a few sentences.

If God grants it to me, I want with all my heart to study these subjects together with the Risale-i Nur Collection and its students, analytically, in

an extensive independent work. I request our esteemed Master's prayers in this matter, as well as those of my dear brothers.

Ustad's Scholarly Front

With the couplet,

"The truth of the matter appears in the mirror;

The degree of a person's intelligence is seen is his works;"

Ziya Pasha expressed a great truth that has been passed down the generations.

It would be as superfluous as describing the sun at noon to attempt to offer details about the knowledge of the Risale-i Nur 's author, for it is a vast compendium of knowledge and belief. With it he has instilled a sacred light in Muslims' hearts.

Nevertheless, as the melancholy poet said:

«Beauty is such that whoever beholds it, loses grasp of his will.»

to speak of the knowledge and learning, the fine morals and attainments, of one who at every stage of his life was graced with divine manifestations, affords a pleasure of a very different sort. So I cannot stop myself from saying more.

In the Risale-i Nur, Ustad discusses matters related to religion, society, morals, literature, law, philosophy, and Sufism, and in all these was extraordinarily successful.

The most astonishing point is that he both solved with the greatest clarity and certainty, complex subjects about which many 'ulama had gone dangerously astray, and following the luminous path of the Sunnis, arrived at the safe shore, having escaped the swirling vortex, and landed there both his works and his readers.

For this reason I feel honoured to present the Risale-i Nur Collection to every class of our noble people, with perfect confidence and sincerity. It treatises are all shining droplets from the Qur'an's ocean and scintillating shafts of light from the sun of guidance. It is therefore every Muslim's most sacred duty to spread these works, to save belief. For it has often been seen in history that a single work has led to the guidance and happiness of numberless persons, families, and societies. How fortunate the person who is the means of saving his brother's faith!

Ustad's Front Related to Thought

It is well-known that all thinkers have their own systems of thought, their particular aims with their thought, and their own ideals, which they

hold dearer than anything. When discussing these, they first set out lengthy preliminaries. But Bediuzzaman's system may be summarized in a single sentence:

Proclaiming the divinity and unity of the universe's Creator, which was the sole mission of all the revealed scriptures and all the prophets, and proving this with scholarly, logical, and philosophical arguments.

Does this mean Ustad was concerned also with logic, philosophy, and modern science?

Yes, so long as logic and philosophy were reconciled with the Qur'an and served truth and reality, Ustad was the greatest logician and most sagacious philosopher. The modern sciences were the most brilliant proofs and certain arguments he used in proving his sacred, universal cause, for every passing day they proclaim more powerfully that the Qur'an is God's revealed Word.

In any event, in so far as philosophy means wisdom, all works that attempt to prove the attributes of the Necessary Existent are the greatest wisdom and their authors the greatest sages.

Thus, since Ustad followed such a scholarly path, that is, he followed the Qur'an's luminous path, he was honoured with saving the belief of thousands of university students. He possesses numerous other qualities, scholarly, literary, and philosophical, which God willing I shall describe with examples in an independent work. Success is from God alone.

His Sufi Front

I once asked a Naqshbandi shaykh, a great scholar who tried to follow the Illustrious Prophet (PBUH) in all his actions:

"What's the reason for the tension between the 'ulama and the followers of Sufism?"

He replied: "The 'ulama are the heirs of the Noble Prophet's knowledge and the Sufis are the heirs of his actions, that is why a person who is heir to both is called Dhu'l-Janahayn of the Possessor of Two Wings. The purpose of the Sufi way is to act resolutely in accordance with the Prophet's conduct and morality, and being purified, to become annihilated in God's pleasure. Doubtless, those who rise to this elevated level are the people of reality. That is, they have attained to the aim desired and sought by the Sufi way. But because it is not easy for everyone to do this, specific rules were laid down. In short: the Sufi way is one circle within the circle of the Shari'a. One who departs from the Sufi way, departs from the Shari'a; but, I seek refuge with God, one who departs from the Shari'a. departs for ever- lasting perdition.

According to what the great scholar said, there is no essential difference between the luminous way Bediuzzaman opened up and true, pure Sufism. They are both ways leading to divine pleasure, and so to Paradise and the vision of God. There is therefore nothing to prevent our Sufi brothers who hold such an aim from reading the Risale-i Nur; on the contrary, they may expand the Sufi field of contemplation with the way of the Qur'an, adding to it the duty of reflective thought as a form of supplication.

Thanks to this reflective thought, which opens up new horizons to one's eyes and heart, an adept who previously was preoccupied with contemplation of the heart only, gazes on, contemplates, and observes with his heart and all his subtle senses the whole universe in all its vastness from particles to the heavenly bodies, and beholds in ecstasy the divine names and attributes manifested in myriad ways in those sciences, and with 'the knowledge of certainty,' 'vision of certainty,' and 'absolute certainty,' he feels himself to be in a mosque of infinite size. This mosque is vast with its congregation of uncountable millions, all mentioning their Creator with fervour and love, in awe and ecstasy. With their sweet voices and different tones, tunes, sounds, and harmonies, they declare: "Glory be to God!" "All praise be to God!" "There is no god but God!" and "God is most great!"

This is the magnificent mosque opened up by the Risale-i Nur, to be entered by those who follow the path of belief, knowledge, and the Qur'an, opened up by the Risale-i Nur. Each person receives its effulgence proportionately to his own belief, knowledge, and sincerity.

His Literary Front

Since early times, poets and writers, thinkers and scholars have been divided into two groups: some have attached importance only to the style and manner of expression, the metre and rhyme, and have sacrificed the meaning to the manner of expression. This is to be seen mostly in poetry. The other group, however, has attached importance to the meaning and content, and has not sacrificed the essence and gist.

I reckon that as a great thinker, Bediuzzaman's literary front will be easily understood from these brief introductory words. For he was a genius who spent his long and fruitful life, not with ordering and arranging words, but with instilling in people the sense of religion and consciousness of belief, and the concept of virtue and good conduct, so that these virtues would ever remain in humanity as a sacred ideal, embedded in their hearts, spirits, consciences, and minds. Naturally, a mujahid who sacrificed his self und all worldly benefits to realize this elevated ideal, would not busy himself with transient forms.

Nevertheless, with his fine taste, sensitivity, depth of thought, and imaginative power, Ustad may be said to have had a really extraordinary literary talent. For this reason, his style changes according to subject. For example, when discussing scholarly and philosophical matters and when convincing the reason with logical, mathematical proofs, he uses very succinct phrases. But when affecting the heart and raising the spirit, his manner of expression attains such clarity it is indescribable. For example, when depicting the skies, suns, stars, and moonlight, and especially the springtime, and Almighty God's power and sublimity manifested in those worlds, he style acquires such subtlety that every simile and metaphor takes the form of a picture framed in gentle colours, every world becomes a wonder of wonders.

It is due to this wisdom that when studying the Risale-i Nur, its students, whatever university faculty there are in, are completely satisfied both in their senses, and minds, and spirits, and consciences, and imaginations. How could they not be satisfied? For the Risale-i Nur Collection is a bunch of blooms gathered from the universal garden of the Noble Qur'an.

So it reflects the light, air, luminosity, and scents of that blessed, divine garden.

Flowing waters tell this need of the spirit,

Mankind has perpetual need of the Qur'an.