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| gencnurCom | The Seventh Ray The Supreme Sign1 AN IMPORTANT
WARNING Not everyone
will be able to understand all the matters discussed in
this most significant treatise, but equally nobody will
remain portionless. If somebody enters a garden, he will
find that his hands cannot reach all the fruit it
contains, but the amount that falls within his grasp will
be enough for him. The garden does not exist for him
alone; it exists also for those whose arms are longer
than his. There are five
causes making difficult the understanding of this book. The
First: I have written down my own observations,
according to my own understanding, and for myself. I have
not written according to the understanding and
conceptions of others, as is the case with other books. The
Second: Since the true affirmation of Divine
unity is set forth in this book, in the most
comprehensive form, by virtue of a manifestation of the
Supreme Name, the subjects discussed are extremely broad,
extremely profound and sometimes extremely long. Not
everyone can comprehend these matters all at once. The
Third: Since each matter constitutes a great and
extensive truth, a single sentence will sometimes stretch
out over a whole page or ____________________ 1. This translation
of the Seventh Ray was originally carried out by Hamid
Algar, Prof. of Middle Eastern Studies in the
The Rays / The
Seventh Ray - p.124 more, in order not to
fracture the truth in question. A single proof requires
copious preliminaries. The
Fourth: Since most of the matters contained in
the book have numerous proofs and evidences, the
discussion sometimes becomes prolix through the inclusion
of ten or twenty proofs by way of demonstration. Limited
intelligences cannot understand this. The
Fifth: It is true that the lights of this
treatise came to me from the effulgence of Ramadan.
Nonetheless, I was distraught in a number of respects,
and I wrote the book hastily at a time my body was
wracked by several illnesses, without revising the first
draft. I felt, moreover, that I was not writing with my
own will and volition, and it seemed inappropriate to
rearrange or correct what I had written, according to my
own thoughts. This, too, resulted in rendering the book
difficult of comprehension. In addition, a number of
sections in Arabic crept in, and the First Station,
written entirely in Arabic, was removed and made into a
separate work. Despite the
defects and difficulties arising from these five causes,
this treatise has such an importance that Imam ‘Ali
(May God be pleased with him) miraculously foresaw its
composition and gave it the names “Supreme Sign” and
“Staff of Moses.” He looked upon this part of the
Risale-i Nur with special favour, and directed man’s
gaze toward it.2 The Supreme Sign is a true
exposition of the Supreme Verse,3 and it
constitutes at the same time the Seventh Ray, designated
by the Imam as the Staff of Moses. This treatise
consists of an Introduction and two Stations. The
Introduction sets forth four important matters; the First
Station contains the Arabic portion of the exposition of
the Supreme Verse; and the Second Station consists of the
translation of that expostion together with the
accompanying proofs. Too much has
been explained in the following Introduction, but it was
not my intention to lengthen it thus. The fact that it
was written at this length indicates the existence of a
need. Indeed, some people may regard it as too short,
despite its length. S
a i d N u r s î ____________________ 2. The events that
took place in Denizli fully confirmed the prediction of
Imam ‘Ali concerning the Supreme Sign. For the secret
printing of this book was the cause of our imprisonment,
and the triumph of its sacred and most powerful truth was
the main cause of our acquittal and deliverance. Thus did
Imam ‘Ali make manifest his miraculous prediction, and
prove the acceptance of the prayer he had uttered on our
behalf: “By means of the Supreme Sign, secure me
against sudden death!” 3. See page 130,
footnote 7.
The Rays / The
Supreme Sign - p.125 Introduction I created not jinn
and mankind except that they might worship me.4
According to the meaning of this mighty verse, the
purpose for the sending of man to this world and the
wisdom implicit in it, consists of recognizing the
Creator of all beings and believing in Him and
worshipping Him. The primordial duty of man and the
obligation incumbent upon him are to know God and believe
in Him, to assent to His Being and unity in submission
and perfect certainty. For man, who
by nature desires permanent life and immortal existence,
whose unlimited hopes are matched by boundless
afflictions, any object or accomplishment other than
belief in God, knowledge of God and the means for
attaining these, which are the fundament and key of
eternal life - any such object or accomplishment must be
regarded as lowly for man, or even worthless in many
cases. Since this
truth has been proven with firm evidence in the Risale-i
Nur, we refer exposition of it to that, setting forth
here, within the framework of four questions, only two
abysses that shake certainty of faith in this age and
induce hesitation. The means for
salvation from the first abyss are these two Matters: The First
Matter: As proven in detail in the Thirteenth Flash
of the Thirty-First Letter, in general questions denial
has no value in the face of proof and is extremely weak.
For example, with respect to the sighting of the crescent
moon at the beginning of Ramadan the Noble, if two common
men prove the crescent to have emerged by their
witnessing it, and thousands of nobles and scholars deny
it, saying: “We have not seen it,” their negation is
valueless and without power to convince. When it is a
question of proof each person strengthens and supports
the other, and consensus results. But when it is a
question of negation, there is no difference between one
man and a thousand. Each person remains alone and
isolated. For the one who affirms looks beyond himself
and judges the matter as it is. Thus in the example we
have given, if one says “The moon is in the sky,” and
his friend then points his finger at the moon, the two of
them unite and are strengthened. ____________________ 4. Qur’an, 51:56.
The Rays / The
Supreme Sign - Introduction - p.126 The one who
engages in negation and denial, however, does not regard
the matter as it is, and is even unable to do so. For it
is a well-known principle that “a non-particularized
denial, not directed to a particular locus, cannot be
proven.” For example,
if I affirm the existence of a thing in the world, and
you deny it, I can easily establish its existence with a
single indication. But for you to justify your negation,
that is to establish the non-existence of the thing - it
is necessary to hunt exhaustively through the whole
world, and even to examine every aspect of past ages.
Only then can you say, “It does not exist, and never
has existed.” Since those
who negate and deny do not regard the matter as it is but
judge rather in the light of their own souls, and their
own intelligence and vision, they can in no way
strengthen and support each other. For the veils and
causes that prevent them from seeing and knowing are
various. Anyone can say, “I do not see it; therefore,
in my opinion and belief, it does not exist.” But none
can say, “It does not exist in actuality.” If someone
says this -particularly in questions of belief, which
look to all the universe- it is a lie as vast as the
world itself, and he who utters it will be incapable both
of speaking the truth and of being corrected. In
Short: The result is one and single in the case
of affirmation, and every instance of affirmation
supports all other instances. Negation by
contrast is not one, but multiple. Multiplicity arises
through each person’s saying concerning himself, “In
my opinion and view,” or “In my belief,” and leads
to multiplicity of result. Hence each separate instance
cannot support all other instances. Therefore,
with respect to the truth with which we began, there is
no significance in the multiplicity and apparent
predominance of the unbelievers and deniers who oppose
belief. Now it is necessary to refrain from introducing
any hesitation into the certainty and faith of a
believer, but in this age the negations and denials of
the philosophers of The Second
Matter: With respect to a problem subject to
discussion in science or art, those who stand outside
that science or art cannot speak
The Rays / The
Supreme Sign - Introduction - p.127 authoritatively,
however great, learned and accomplished they may be, nor
can their judgements be accepted as decisive. They cannot
form part of the learned consensus of the science. For example,
the judgement of a great engineer on the diagnosis and
cure of a disease does not have the same value as that of
the lowliest physician. In particular, the words of
denial of a philosopher who is absorbed in the material
sphere, who becomes continually more remote from the
non-material or spiritual and cruder and more insensitive
to light, whose intelligence is restricted to what his
eye beholds - the words of such a one are unworthy of
consideration and valueless with respect to non-material
and spiritual matters. On matters
sacred and spiritual and concerning the Divine unity,
there is total accord among the hundreds of thousands of
the People of Truth, such as Shaykh Gilani (May his
mystery be sanctified), who beheld God’s Sublime Throne
while still on the earth, who spent ninety years
ad-vancing in spiritual work, and who unveiled the truths
of belief in all three stations of certainty. This being
the case what value have the words of philosophers, who
through their absorption in the most diffuse details of
the material realm and the most minute aspects of
multiplicity are choking and dazed? Are not their denials
and objections drowned out like the buzzing of a mosquito
by the roaring of thunder? The essence of
the unbelief that opposes the truths of Islam and
struggles against them is denial, ignorance, and
negation. Even though it may appear to be an affirmation
of some kind and a manifestation of being, it is in
reality negation and non-being. Whereas belief is
knowledge and a manifestation of being; it is affirmation
and judgement. Every negating aspect of belief is the
gate to a positive truth or the veil covering it. If the
unbelievers who struggle against faith attempt, with the
utmost difficulty, to affirm and accept their negative
beliefs in the form of acceptance and admission of
non-being, then their unbelief may be regarded in one
respect as a form of mistaken knowledge or erroneous
judgement. But as for non-accceptance, denial, and
non-admission -something more easily done- it is absolute
ignorance and total absence of judgement. In
Short: The convictions underlying unbelief are
then of two kinds: The First
pays no regard to the truths of Islam. It is an erroneous
admission, a baseless belief and a mistaken acceptance
peculiar to itself; it is an unjust judgement. This kind
of unbelief is beyond the scope of our discussion. It has
no concern with us, nor do we have any concern with it. The Second
Kind opposes the truths of belief and struggles
against them. It consists in turn of two varieties.
The Rays / The
Supreme Sign - Introduction - p.128 The
First is non-acceptance. It consists simply of
not consenting to affirmation. This is a species of
ignorance; there is no judgement in-volved and it occurs
easily. It too is beyond the scope of our discussion. The
Second variety is acceptance of non-being. It is
to consent to non-being with one’s heart, and a
judgement is involved. It is a conviction and a taking
the part of something. It is on account of this
partiality that it is obliged to affirm its negation. The negation
comprises two types: The First
Type says: “A certain thing does not exist at a
certain place or in a particular direction.” This kind
of denial can be proved, and it lies outside of our
discussion. The Second
Type consists of negating and denying those doctrinal
and sacred matters, general and comprehensive, that
concern this world, all beings, the hereafter, and the
succession of different ages. This kind of negation
cannot in any fashion be substantiated, as we have shown
in the First Matter, for what is needed to substantiate
such negations is a vision that shall encompass the whole
universe, behold the hereafter, and observe every aspect
of time without limit. The Second
Abyss and the means for escaping from it: This too
consists of two matters. The
First: Intelligences that become narrowed by
absorption in neglect of God and in sin, or the material
realm, are unable to comprehend vast matters in respect
of sublimity, grandeur, and infinity; hence taking pride
in such knowledge as they have, they hasten to denial and
negation. Since they cannot encompass the extremely vast,
profound and comprehensive questions of faith within
their straitened and dessicated intellects, their corrupt
and spiritually moribund hearts, they cast themselves
into unbelief and misguidance, and choke. If they were
able to look at the true nature of their unbelief and the
essence of their misguidance they would see that,
compared to the reasonable, suitable and indeed necessary
sublimity and grandeur that is present in belief, their
unbelief conceals and contains manifold absurdity and
impossibility. The Risale-i Nur has proven this truth by
hundreds of comparisons with the same finality that
“two plus two equals four.” For example, one who does
not accept the Necessary Being, the pre-eternity, and the
comprehensiveness of attribute of God Almighty, on
account of their grandeur and sublimity, may form a creed
of unbelief by assigning that necessary being,
pre-eternity, and the attributes of Godhead to an
unlimited number of beings, an infinity of atoms. Or like
the foolish
The Rays / The
Supreme Sign - Introduction - p.129 Sophists, he can
abdicate his intelligence by denying and negating both
his own existence and that of the universe. Thus, all the
truths of belief and Islam, basing their matters on the
grandeur and sublimity which are their requirement,
deliver themselves from the awesome absurdities, the
fearsome superstitions, and the tenebrous ignorance of
unbelief that confront them, and take up their place in
sound hearts and straight intellects, through utmost
submission and assent. The constant
proclamation of this grandeur and sublimity in the call
to prayer, in the prayers themselves and in most of the
rites of Islam, Allahu
akbar, God is Most Great! God is Most
Great! God is Most Great! the declaration of
the Sacred Tradition that “Grandeur is My shield and
Sublimity My cloak;”5 and the statement of
the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) - his most
inspiring communing with God, in the eighty-sixth part of
Jawshan al-Kabir:6 O
You other than Whose Kingdom no kingdom exists; O You Whose
Praise cannot be counted by His slaves; O You Whose
Glory cannot be described by His creatures; O You Whose
Perfection lies beyond the range of all vision; O You Whose
Attributes exceed the bounds of all understanding; O You Whose
Grandeur is beyond the reach of all thought; O You Whose
Qualities man cannot fittingly describe; O You Whose
Decree His slaves cannot avert; O You Whose
Signs are manifest in everything -Be You
glorified; there is no god other than You- Protection,
protection, deliver us from the Fire! - all these
show that grandeur and sublimity constitute a necessary
veil. ____________________ 5. Muslim,
Birr, 136; Abu Da’ud, Libas, 25; Ibn Maja,
Zuhd, 16; Musnad, ii, 248, 376, 414, 427, 442; iv,
416; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, i, 272; vii, 473;
al-Hindi, Kanz al-‘Ummal, iii, 534. ba
The Rays / The
Supreme Sign - First Chapter - p.130 The Supreme Sign The Observations
of a Traveller Questioning the Universe
Concerning His Maker 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.7[This
Second Station, in addition to explaining the above
sublime verse, sets out the proofs, arguments, and
meaning of the First Station, which has been skipped.] 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. Indeed, 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 ____________________ 7. Qur’an,
The Rays / The
Supreme Sign - First Chapter - p.131 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
The Rays / The
Supreme Sign - First Chapter - p.132 of the earth with the
water of life, modify the natural heat of life, and
hasten 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 reappears 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
The Rays / The
Supreme Sign - First Chapter - p.133 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,8 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 ____________________ 8. Qur’an, 2:164.
The Rays / The
Supreme Sign - First Chapter - p.134 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.9 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,10 The brilliance of
His lightning almost robs them of their sight.11 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: ____________________ 9. Qur’an, 42:28. 10. Qur’an, 11. Qur’an, 24:43. The Rays / The
Supreme Sign - First Chapter - p.135 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, The Rays / The
Supreme Sign - First Chapter - p.136 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.12 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.”13 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 ____________________ 12. Qur’an, 30:50. The Rays / The
Supreme Sign - First Chapter - p.137 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 For example,
the blessed 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. ____________________ 14. See, Muslim,
Janna, 26. (The rivers, Sayhan, Jayhan, The Rays / The
Supreme Sign - First Chapter - p.138 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,15And We have cast down anchors,16And
the mountains He anchored them.17 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. ____________________ 15. Qur’an, 78:7.
The Rays / The
Supreme Sign - First Chapter - p.139 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
The Rays / The
Supreme Sign - First Chapter - p.140 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 |