 Return |
||
| gencnurCom |
A Guide for
Youth
by
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi
How can We Save our Lives?
[A conversation held with some young people who,
though surrounded by temptation, had not yet lost their
power of reason.] Being assaulted by the deceptive, seductive amusements
of the present time, a group of young people were asking:
"How can we save our lives in the Hereafter?",
and they sought help from the Risale-i Nur. So I said the
following to them in the name of the Risale-i Nur: The
grave is there and no one can deny it. Whether they want
to or not, everyone must enter it. And apart from the
following ' These last two Ways are self-evident, they do not
require proof, they are plain for all to see. Since the
appointed hour is secret, and death may come any time and
cut off one's head, and it does not differentiate between
young and old, perpetually having such an awesome and
serious matter before him, unhappy man will surely search
for the means to deliver himself from that eternal
extinction, that infinite, endless solitary confinement;
the means to transform the door of the grave into a door
opening on to an everlasting world, eternal happiness,
and a world of light. It will be a question for him that
looms as large as the world. The certain fact of death, then, can only be
approached in these three ways, and one hundred and
twenty-four thousand veracious messengers-the prophets,
in whose hands are miracles as signs of confirmation-have
announced that the three ways are as described above.
And, relying on their illuminations and visions, one
hundred and twenty-four million saints have confirmed and
set their signatures on the prophets tidings. And
innumerable exact scholars have proved it rationally with
their categorical proofs at the level of 'certainty at
the degree of knowledge*. They have all unanimously
declared it to be a ninety- nine per cent certain
probability, saying: "The only way to be saved from
extinction and eternal imprisonment, and be directed
towards eternal happiness, is through belief in God and
obedience to Him."
*. One of these is the: Risale-i Nur. And it is there
for all to see.
If a person considers but does not heed the word of a
single messenger not to take a dangerous road on which
there is a one per cent danger of perishing, and takes
it, the anxiety at perishing that he suffers will destroy
even his appetite for food. Thus hundreds of thousands of
veracious and verified messengers announced that there is
a one hundred per cent probability that misguidance and
vice lead to the gallows of the grave, ever before the
eyes, and eternal solitary confinement, and that there is
a one hundred per cent probability that belief and
worship remove those gal- lows, close the solitary
prison, and transform the ever-apparent grave into a door
opening onto an ever- lasting treasury and palace of
felicity; and they have pointed out signs and traces of
these. Confronted as he is, then, with this strange,
awesome, terrifying matter, if wretched man-and
especially if he is a Muslim-does not believe and
worship, is he able to banish the grievous pain arising
from the anxiety he suffers as he all the time awaits his
turn to be summoned to those gallows, ever-present before
his eyes, even if he is given rule over the whole world
together with all its pleasures? I ask you. Since old-age, illness, disaster, and on all sides
death open up the frightful pain and are a reminder, even
if the people of misguidance and vice enjoy a hundred
thousand pleasures and delights, they most certainly
experience a sort of hell in their hearts, but a profound
stupor of heedlessness temporarily makes them insensible
to it. Since for the people of belief and obedience the
grave, which is always before their eyes, is the door to
an everlasting treasury and eternal happiness, and since,
by reason of the 'belief coupon', a ticket from the
pre-eternal lottery of Divine Determining for millions
upon millions of poundsworth of gold and diamonds has
come up for each of them, they all the time await the
word, "Come and collect your ticket" with a
profound and true pleasure and real spiritual delight.
This pleasure is such that if it materialized and the
seed became a tree, it would be like a private paradise.
However, one who abandons the delight and great pleasure
due to the drives of youth, and chooses in a dissolute
and licentious manner temporary illicit pleasures, which
resemble poisonous honey polluted with those innumerable
pains, falls to a degree a hundred times lower than an
animal. Furthermore, such a person will not be like
unbelieving foreigners, for if they deny the Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH), they may recognize the other prophets.
And if they do not know God, they may possess some good
qualities which are the means to certain perfections. But
a Muslim knows both the prophets, and his Sustainer, and
all perfection by means of Muhammad the Arabian (PBUH).
If one of them abandons the Prophet's instruction and
puts himself outside his chain, he will not recognize any
other prophet, neither will he recognize God. Nor will he
know any of the fundamentals within his spirit which will
preserve his perfections. For, since Muhammad (PBUH) is
the last and greatest of the prophets, and his religion
and summons are for the whole of mankind, and since he is
superior to all with regard to his miracles and religion,
and acts as teacher to all mankind in all matters
concerning reality, and has proved this in a brilliant
manner for fourteen centuries, and is the cause of pride
for mankind, a Muslim who abandons Muhammad (PBUH)'s
essential training and the principles of his religion
will most certainly be able to find no light, nor achieve
any perfection He will be condemned to absolute decline. And so, you unfortunates who are addicted to the
pleasures of the life of this world, and with anxiety at
the future, struggle to secure it and your lives! If you
want pleasure, delight, happiness, and ease in this
world, make do with what is licit. That is sufficient for
your enjoyment. You will surely have understood from
other parts of the Risale-i Nur that in each pleasure
which is outside this, and is illicit, lies a thousand
pains. If the events of the future- for example, of fifty
years hence-were also shown in the cinema in the same way
that they show at the present time the events of the
past, those who indulge in vice would weep filled with
horror and disgust at those things which now amuse them. Those who wish to be permanently, eternally happy in
this world and the Hereafter should take as their guide
the instruction of Muhammad (PBUH) within the sphere of
belief.
* * * *
True Pleasure
In the playground of the High School opposite the
prison the older girls were dancing and laughing, but
they seemed to me to be like the houris of Hell in that
worldly paradise. They suddenly appeared to me as they
would be in fifty years' time, and their laughter had
turned into piteous weeping. From this the following
truth became apparent. That is to say, I saw them as they
would be in fifty years on an imaginary cinema screen. I
saw that fifty of those sixty laughing girls were
suffering the torments of the grave and had become earth.
While ten of them were ugly seventy-year-olds attracting
only looks of disgust. I too wept for them. The true nature of the dissension at the end of time
appeared to me. It seemed to me that its most fearsome
and seductive aspect would spring from the shameless
faces of women. Negating free choice, it would cast
people into the flames of debauchery, like moths, and
make them prefer one minute of the life of this world to
years of eternal life. Another day while watching the street, I noticed a
powerful example of this. I felt great pity for the young
people I saw. While thinking: "These unfortunates
cannot save themselves from the fire of these seductive
temptations which attract like magnets," a sort of
embodiment of all the forces urging apostasy appeared
before me, which fans the flames of those temptations and
that dissension, and gives instruction in them. I said to
it and to those apostates who follow its lessons and
deviate from Islam: Oh you miserable creatures who sacrifice their
religion on the way of taking pleasure with the houris of
Hell, and loving it perpetrate depravity on the way of
misguidance, who accept irreligion and deviation on the
way of the pleasures and lusts of the soul, and worship
life, are terrified of death, do not want to remember the
grave, and have turned their faces towards apostasy! You
should know definitely that, by reason of your
irreligion, this mighty world of yours, the previous hour
and the coming minute, all this universe of yours and
your past and your future, all your species and races of
the past and the creatures and generations of the future,
and all the worlds and nations that have gone and all the
peoples and communities that will come, all these are
completely non-existent and dead. Therefore, because of the form of your misguidance,
all these traveling worlds and flowing universes with
which you are connected by reason of your humanity and
intellect continuously rain down on your head the severe
suffering of a worldful of terrible and innumerable
deaths. If you possessed consciousness, it would be
searing your heart. If you had a spirit, it would be
scorching it. If your reason had not been extinguished,
it would be drowning in grief. If one short hour of your
drunken dissipation and filthy pleasure can make up for
this boundless grief, sorrow, and pain, then remain in
it. But if it does not, come to your senses! In order to
be saved from that hell, enter the paradise which belief
ensures in this world also, and taste the happiness of
life, take heed of the lessons of the Qur'an, ex- change
a partial, transitory minute's worth of pleasure for the
universal, unending, eternal pleasures of belief*
*Indeed, belief may produce the pleasures of Paradise
in this world too. Consider the following single benefit
out of hundreds of pleasurable lights. For example, at
the very minute you see someone you love dearly in great
danger and dying, a doctor who is like both Loqman the
Sage and Khidr arrives. Suddenly your friend is restored
to life. What great joy you feel. In the same way, belief
gives you happiness and joy to the number of the dead
whom you love and with whom you are connected. For
through the light of belief, millions of people loved by
you in the graveyard of the past are suddenly delivered
from extinction and death and resurrected before you.
They come to life saying, "We did not die, and we
shall not die." In place of the numberless pains
resulting from those numberless separations, through
belief, the innumerable pleasures and joys arising from
union and coming to life may be experienced in this world
also. Thus, this shows that "Belief is a seed which
produces for those who believe the shoots of Paradise
together with all its pleasures and properties in this
world, and so too will it produce them in the next."
Also do not say: "I shall pass my life like an
animal", because for an animal the past and the
future are hidden, as though non-existent. By not causing
them to realize this, the All-Wise and Compassion- ate
One has saved them from innumerable pains. A hen which is
being held down to be slaughtered, even, does not feel
any pain or grief. It wants to feel it as the knife cuts,
but the feeling passes and it is saved from that pain,
too. That is to say, God Almighty's most vast and perfect
mercy, clemency, and compassion do not make the unseen
known to them. They are more complete for innocent
animals in particular. And so, in licentious pleasure you
can- not reach the level of the animals; you fall a
thousand times lower. For your intellect sees things that
are hidden to animals, and receives pain from them. You
are altogether deprived of the total ease to be found in
the veiling of the unseen. Also, since your good qualities, like brotherhood,
respect, and zeal, which are a cause of pride for you,
are restricted to a minute point of time and the space of
a finger out of a vast desert, and are special to only
the present hour out of limitless time, they be- come
artificial, temporary, contrived, baseless, and most
insignificant, and your humanity and achievements
diminish proportionately, and are reduced to ' nothing.
Whereas, since the brotherhood, respect, love, and zeal
of the believers encompass the past and the future, which
are existent by reason of their belief, they elevate
their humanity and achievements proportionately. Also, like a crazy Jewish diamond merchant who gives
the price of diamonds for pieces of glass, for your
worldly success, you have given the price of a long,
permanent, and broad life for a brief, short time and
life, so of course you will be dominant within those
limits. Since you address yourself to one minute with a
year's worth of such emotions as a fierce greed, love and
revenge, you will prevail temporarily over the people of
religion. Also, since your mind, spirit, heart, and feelings
have abandoned their exalted duties, and shared and
assisted in the vile doings of your base soul and filthy
lusts, you will be victorious over the believers in this
world. And superficially you will appear more lovable.
For your mind, heart, and spirit have declined,
degenerated, and fallen to an extreme degree, and have
been transformed, deformed, into filthy lust and
despicable soul. For sure, in this respect you will
prevail temporarily, which will gain you Hell, and the
wronged people of belief Paradise.
* * * *
Youth Will Go
[A Warning, Lesson and Reminder Given to a number
of Unhappy Youths ] One day a number of bright youths came to me, seeking
an effective deterrent in order to guard them- selves
against the dangers arising from life, youth, and the
lusts of the soul. Like I had told those who had
previously sought help from the Risale-i Nur, I also said
to these youths: Your youth will definitely leave you, and if you do
not remain within the sphere of the licit, it will be
lost, and rather than its pleasures, it will bring you
calamities and suffering in this world, in the grave, and
in the Hereafter. But if, with Islamic training, you
spend the bounty of your youth as thanks honorably, in
uprightness and obedience, it will in effect remain
perpetually and-will be the cause of gaining eternal
youth. As for life, if it is without belief, or because of
rebelliousness belief is ineffective, it will produce
pains, sorrows and grief far exceeding the superficial,
fleeting enjoyment and pleasure it brings. Because,
since, contrary to the animals, man possesses a mind and
he thinks, he is connected to both the pre- sent time,
and to the past and the future. He can obtain both pain
and pleasure from them. Whereas, since the animals do not
think, the sorrows arising from the past and the fears
and anxieties arising from the future do not spoil their
pleasure of the present. And especially if the pleasure
is illicit; then it is like an altogether poisonous
honey. That is to say, from the point of view of the pleasure
of life, man falls to a level a hundred times lower than
the animals. In fact, life for the people of misguidance
and heedlessness, and indeed their existence, rather
their world, is the day in which they find themselves.
From the point of view of their misguidance, all the time
and universes of the past are non-existent, are dead. So
their intellects, which connect them to the past and the
future, produce darkness, blackness for them. And, due to
their lack of belief, the future is also non-existent.
Further- more, because they think, the eternal
separations resulting from this non-existence
continuously produce darkness for their lives. Whereas, if belief gives life to life, then through
the light of belief, both the past and the future are
illuminated and find existence. Like present time, it
produces elevated and spiritual pleasures and lights of
existence for the spirit and heart-in respect of belief.
There is an explanation of this truth in the 'Seventh
Hope' in the Treatise for The Elderly. You may refer to
that. And so, life is thus. If you want the pleasure and
enjoyment of life, give life to your life through belief,
and adorn it with religious duties. And preserve it by
abstaining from sins. Concerning the fearsome reality of death, which is
demonstrated by deaths every day, in every place, at all
times, I shall explain it to you with a comparison, in
the same way that I told the other youths. For example, a gallows has been erected here in front
of your eyes. Beside it is a lottery office, but one
which gives tickets for truly huge prizes. We people here
are ten people, whether we like it or not, we shall be
summoned there; there is no other alternative. They will
call us, and since the time is secret, any minute they
may say either: "Come and collect the ticket for
your execution! Mount the gallows!" Or: "A
ticket to win a prize of millions of dollars' worth of
gold has come up for you. Come and collect it!"
While waiting for them to say this, two people suddenly
appear at the door. One of them is a scantily dressed
woman, beautiful and deceiving. In her hand is some
apparently extremely delicious, but in fact poisonous,
halva, which she has brought wanting us to eat it. The
other is an undeceiving and undeceivable serious person.
He enters behind the woman, and says: "I have bought you a talisman, a lesson. If you
study it, and if you do not eat that halva, you will be
saved from the gallows. With this talisman, you will
receive your ticket for the matchless prize. Look, you
see with your own eyes that those who eat the honey mount
those gallows, and untill that time they suffer dreadful
stomach pains from the poison of the halva. And who it is
that will recieve the ticket for the large prize is not
apparent; it seems that they too mount the gallows. But
there are millions of witnesses who testify that they can
enter the prize arena easily. So, look from the windows!
The highest officials and the high-ranking persons
concerned with this business proclaim with loud voices:
'Just as you see with the clear certainty of your own
eyes those mounting the gallows, so also be certain as
daylight, with no doubt or misgiving, that hose with the
talisman receive the ticket for the prize.' " Thus, like the comparison, since the dissolute
pleasures of youth in the sphere of the illicit, which
are like poisonous honey, lose belief, which is the
ticket for an eternal treasury and the passport for
everlasting happiness, a person who indulges in them
descends to death, which is like the gallows, and to the
tribulations of the grave which is like the door to
eternal darkness. And since the appointed hour is
unknown, its executioner, not differentiating between
young and old, may come at any time to cut off your head.
If you give up illicit desires, which are like the
poisonous honey, and aquire belief and perform thr
religious duties, which are the Qur'anic talisman, one
hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets (upon whom be
peace) together with innumerable saints and people of
truth have unanimously announced that you shall recieve
the ticket for the treasury of eternal happiness which
comes up from the extraordinary lottery of human destiny.
And they have pointed to traces of it. IN SHORT: Youth will go. And if it goes being
squandered, it results in thousands of calamities and
pains both in this world and in the Hereafter. And if you
want to understand how the majority of such youths end up
in hospitals with imagined diseases arising from misspent
youth and prodigality, and in prisons or hostels for the
destitute through their excesses, and in bars due to the
distress arising from their pain and suffering, then go
and ask at the hospitals, prisons and graveyards. For sure, just as you will hear from most of the
hospitals the moans and groans of those ill from
dissipation and debauchery resulting from the drives of
youth, so too will you hear from the prisons the
regretful sighs of unhappy youths who are being punished
for illicit actions mostly resulting from the excesses of
youth. And you will understand that most of the torments
of the grave-that Intermediate Realm the doors of which
continuously open and shut for those who enter it-are the
result of misspent youth, as is testified to by those who
have divined the life of the grave, and is affirmed by
the people of truth. Also, ask the elderly and the sick, who form the
majority of mankind. Certainly, the great majority of
them will say with sorrow and regret: "Alas! We
wasted our youth on passion and fancy; indeed, harmfully.
Be careful, do not do as we did!" Because, as a
consequence of the illicit pleasures of five to ten
years' youth, a person suffers years of grief and sorrow
in this world, torment and harm in the Intermediate
Realm, and the-calamities of Hell in the Hereafter. And
although such a person is in a most piteable situation,
he in no way deserves pity. For those who freely consent
to indulge in harmful actions may not be pitied. They are
not worthy of it. May Almighty God save us and you from the al- luring
temptations of this time, and preserve us from them.
Amen.
* * * *
The Way to Preserve Beauty
It is understood from the narrations of certain Hadith
that what will play the most fearsome role in the
dissension at the end of time will be women and their
dissension. Indeed, just as it is related in the
histories that in olden times a group of soldiers
composed of warrior women called Amazons were extremely
skilful in war, so in just the same way at the present
time, the most fearsome of the group in the war of
atheistic misguidance against Islam, the commander- ship
of which has been given to Satan through the scheming of
the evil-commanding soul, is half-naked women, who with
their bare legs-those ghastly knives-attack and assault
the believers. By striving to close the road to marriage
and widen the road to houses of debauchery, they take
many people's souls captive, and wound their hearts and
spirits with grave sins. Indeed, they kill some of those
hearts. As a perfect punishment for displaying them to the
desirous gazes of those who are canonically strangers,
those knife-like legs become the logs to fuel Hell and
will be the first to burn. And since such women have lost
confidence and faithfulness in this world, they are no
longer able to find suitable husbands, which by their
natures they want, and of which they are in great need.
And even if they do find one, it only brings them
trouble. It is understood from the narrations of some
Hadith, even, that as a result of this situation, at the
end of time, because marriage will be neither sought
after nor observed in some places, the value of women
will fall to the degree at which one man looks after
forty women. Since the reality of the matter is this; and since
every beauty loves her beauty and wants to preserve it as
far as she can, and does not want it to be spoilt; and
since beauty is a bounty, and if bounty is thanked for,
it increases, while if it is not thanked for, it changes
and becomes ugly, for sure, if such a person is sensible,
she will flee with all her strength from committing sins,
and making her beauty and loyeliness commit sins, and
making them ugly and poisonous, and through ingratitude
turning that bounty into some- thing that leads to
punishment. And in order to make permanent that fleeting
five or ten years' beauty, she will give thanks for the
bounty by using it in a licit fashion. Otherwise for the
long period of her old age, she will be spurned and will
weep despairingly. If her loveliness is made beautiful with the adornment
of Qur'anic conduct and manners within the sphere of
Islamic training, that fleeting beauty will in effect
become eternal, and in Paradise she will be given a
beauty more graceful and shining than that of the houris,
as is definitely established in some Hadiths. If such a
beauty has even the minutest amount of sense, she will
not allow this beautiful, shining, and everlasting result
to slip from her hand.
* * * *
Mankind Will Embrace The Qur'an
I shall allude briefly to a most extensive and lengthy
truth which occurred to my heart on the Night of Power. Because of the extreme tyranny and despotism of this
last World War and its merciless destruction, and
hundreds of innocents being scattered and ruined on
account of a single enemy, and the awesome despair of the
defeated, and the fearsome alarm of the victors and their
ghastly pangs of conscience arising from the supremacy
they are unable to maintain and the destruction they are
unable to repair, and the utter transitoriness and
ephemerality of the life of this world and the deceptive
and opiate nature of the fantasies of civilization
becoming apparent to all, and the exalted abilities
lodged in human nature and the human essence being
wounded in a universal and awesome manner, and
heedlessness and misguidance and deaf, lifeless nature
being smashed by the diamond sword of the Qur'an, and the
exceedingly ugly, exceedingly cruel true face of world
politics becoming apparent, which is the widest and most
suffocating and deceptive cover for heedlessness and
misguidance, most certainly and without any shadow of a
doubt, since the life of this world -which is the
metaphorical beloved of mankind- is thus ugly and
transient, man's true nature will search with all its
strength for eternal life, which it truly loves and
yearns for, just as there are signs of this occurring in
the North, the West, and in America. And most certainly there is no doubt that since the
Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, which each century for
one thousand three hundred and sixty years has had three
hundred and fifty million students, and sets the seal on
each of its pronouncements and claims through the
affirmation of mil- lions of profound, veracious
scholars, and each minute has been present with its
sacredness in the hearts of millions of hafiz's and given
instruction to man- kind through their tongues, and which
in a way unmatched by any other book conveys the good
news of eternal life and everlasting happiness to mankind
and heals all their wounds,-since the Qur'an has given
this certain good news of eternal life and happiness with
thousands of its insistent, powerful and repeated verses,
and with its certain unshakeable proofs and innumerable
indubitable arguments which invite and give news
explicitly and implicitly tens of thousands of times, so
long as human kind does not altogether lose its mind and
a material or immaterial doomsday does not erupt over its
head, the broad masses and great states in the world will
search out the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, and
having grasped its truths, will embrace it with all their
lives and spirits, just as there are [now] famous
preachers in Sweden, Norway, Finland and England working
to have the Qur'an accepted, and the important community
of America is searching for the true religion. Because in
view of this fact, the Qur'an by no means has nor can
have-any equal. And absolutely nothing can take the place
of this greatest miracle. SECONDLY: Since the Risale-i Nur has per-
formed a service like a diamond sword in the hand of this
greatest miracle and compelled its stubborn enemies to
submit, and acts as a herald to the treasures of the
Qur'an in a fashion that illuminates and heals completely
both the heart, and the spirit, and the emotions, and has
no source nor authority other than the Qur'an and is its
miracle, it performs that duty perfectly. Furthermore it has completely routed the obstinate
atheists and their fearsome propaganda against it, and
smashed to pieces with the treatise Nature: Cause or
Effect nature, which is the most impregnable bastion of
misguidance, and, with the Sixth Matter in the treatise
Fruits of Belief together with the First, Second, Third
and Eighth Proofs all of which are included in the book
The Staff of Moses, has banished heedlessness in a most
brilliant fashion in its most dense, suffocating and
extensive sphere under the wide-reaching veils of science
and has demonstrated the light of divine unity. For sure, since religious instruction is now
officially permitted and permission has been given to
open private places of study, it is necessary for us and
essential for the nation that, as far as is possible,
Students of the Risale-i Nur should open a small
'Risale-i Nur Study Center' in every place. Al- though
everyone would benefit to some extent, not everyone would
understand every matter completely. But since these
matters are explanations of the truths of belief, they
are both learning, and knowledge of God, and lead to
God's presence, and are worship. Insha'llah, these 'Risale-i Nur Medreses' will se-
cure in five to ten weeks the same results that the
former medreses produced in five to ten years-and they
have been so doing for twenty years. Also it is essential for the Government not to
interfere with these Flashes of the Qur'an, the Risale-i
Nur, which is the Qur'an's herald and is beneficial in
many ways for the worldly and political life of this
nation and country, and for its life in the Here- after.
Rather, it should work for its total spread and
acceptance, so that it will atone for the grievous sins
of the past, and form a barrier to the severe trials and
anarchy of the future.
* * * *
Today's Most Pressing Question
The question we asked 'Ustad', our Master, was
this: "For two years during the most critical times
of this World War*, which is closely connected with the
fate of the Islamic World,-and now it is about ten
years-you have asked neither us, nor Emin, who everyday
sees to your needs, anything at all about it, you have
given it no importance at all. Is there some other fact
more momentous than this event, that dominates and
overrules it? Or is it harmful in some way to be
preoccupied with it?" He answered as follows:
*The Second World War.
Yes, there is a fact more momentous, an event of
greater consequence than the World War, and since it
dominates the War, the War becomes extremely unimportant
in comparison with it. The reason is this: this World War
is to do with two governments disputing a claim for world
supremacy; and at a time when the two great religions
have opened suits for peace and reconciliation, and an
alarming current of irreligion has embarked on a mighty
struggle with the revealed religions, a case has been
opened far exceeding in importance the cases opened in
the supreme court of the 'proletariat' and 'bourgeoisie'
of mankind. Such an immense matter has arisen that the
amount of this case that concerns even a single person is
greater than the World War. The case is as follows: For every believer, indeed for everyone at this time,
such a case has been opened that if each had as much
wealth and power as the English and Germans put together,
and sense as well, he would spend all of it just to win
the case. For sure, anyone who attaches importance to
other things before winning the case is crazy. And even
it has become so full of risk that according to the
observation of one seer of the realities of creation, out
of forty people in a place who received their
demobilization papers from the hand of the appointed
hour, only one won the case. Thirty-nine lost. And so, if a lawyer is to be found who has won such
great and important cases for eight out of ten people for
twenty years, and will win this one, anyone with any
sense will be bound to attach greater importance to
anything he can do which will induce such a lawyer to do
his duty and win the case for him. One such lawyer, indeed the foremost, is the Risale-i
Nur, which proceeds, issues and is derived from the
miraculousness of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, as
thousands who have won the case through it can testify. Indeed, it has been indisputably established that each
human being sent as an official to this world is a
temporary guest here, and that his true nature is turned
towards an eternal life. But at this time the fortresses
which are his point of support and will save eternal life
for him have been shaken, and it seems he will leave for
ever this world and all his friends who are in it. At
such a time a case has been opened that will either gain
him or lose him an eternal property thousands of times
more perfect than the world. If he does not have the
document of belief, and if his belief, which forms his
warrant and papers, is not firm, he will lose the claim.
Then is there anything that can take the place of what he
has lost? Thus, in consequence of this fact, even if the minds
and ideas of each of us, that is, myself and my brothers,
expanded a hundred times over, they would still be only
just sufficient for this immense and sacred duty. To
consider other matters is superfluous and meaningless.
Indeed, we have only considered other things when certain
students of the Risale-i Nur have been involved in the
other cases; at times when for no reason, we have been
subject to unnecessary aggression and assaults by the
brainless, and then it was against our wishes and to the
minimum degree necessary.*
*This refers to defense speeches in court.
Furthermore, it is harmful to become involved mind and
heart with cases and conflicts outside this immense and
rightful case. For a person who pays attention to and
becomes preoccupied with the large and exciting sphere of
politics will either neglect the duties with which he is
charged in a narrow sphere, or his enthusiasm will be
dampened. Also, a person sometimes gets carried away by
paying attention to the enticing broad sphere of politics
and conflict. Then, just as he does not carry out his
duties, even if he does not lose his soundness of heart,
purity of intention, integrity of thought and sincerity
in his duties, he may anyway be accused of it. In fact,
when they were attacking me in court concerning this very
point, I silenced them with the following words: Just as the sun-like truths of belief and the Qur'an
cannot be a tool to and follow the attraction of
transitory lights on the ground, so also one who truly
knows those truths cannot use them as a tool for the
whole universe, let alone events on the earth." Our Master's answer ended here. And we assent to it
with all our strength. Students
of the Risale-i Nur.
* * * *
How to Benefit From Prison
Those in prison are in great need of the true
consolation of the Risale-i Nur. Particularly those who
having suffered the blows of youth, are passing their
young, sweet lives in prison; they need the Risale-i Nur
as much as they need bread. Indeed, youth heeds the emotions rather than reason,
and emotions and desires are blind; they do not consider
the consequences; They prefer one ounce of immediate
pleasure to tons of future pleasure. They kill for the
one minute pleasure of revenge, then suffer for eighty
thousand hours the pain of prison. And one hour's
dissolute pleasure in questions of honor may result in
life's enjoyment being utterly destroyed through distress
at the fear of both prison and enemies. And there are
many other examples, many pitfalls for the unfortunate
young because of which they transform their most sweet
lives into the most bitter and pitiable lives. Consider a vast state to the north*; it has gained
possession of the passions of its young people and is
shaking this century with its storms. For it has made
lawful for its youths the pleasing daughters and wives of
upright people, and these youths act only according to
their feelings, which are blind to all consequences.
Indeed, by permitting men and women to go together to the
public baths, they are encouraging immorality. And they
consider it lawful for vagabonds and the poor to plunder
the property of the rich. All mankind trembles in the
face of this calamity.
*Trans. Note; Russia
And so it is most necessary in this century for all
Muslim youths to act heroically, and to respond to this
two-pronged attack with keen swords like the Fruits of
Belief and the Guide for Youth from the Risale-i Nur.
Otherwise those unfortunate youths will destroy utterly
both their futures in this world, and their agreeable
lives, and their happiness in the Hereafter, and their
eternal lives, and transform them into torment and
suffering. And through their abuses and dissoluteness,
they will end up in hospitals, and through their excesses
in life, in prisons. In their old age, they will weep
copiously with a thousand regrets. If, on the other hand, they protect themselves with
Qur'anic training, and with the truths of the Risale-i
Nur, they will become truly heroic youths, perfect human
beings, successful Muslims, and in some ways rulers over
animate beings and the rest of the animal kingdom. Indeed, when a youth in prison spends one hour out of
the twenty-four each day on the five obligatory prayers,
and repents for the mistakes that were the cause of his
disaster, and abstains from other harmful, painful sins,
just as this will be of great benefit for both his life,
and his future, and his country, and his nation, and his
relatives, so too will he gain with his fleeting youth of
ten to fifteen years an eternal, brilliant youth.
Foremost the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, and all the
revealed scriptures, have given this certain good news. If such a youth demonstrates his gratitude for the
pleasing, delightful bounty of youth through moderation
and obedience, it will both increase it, and make it
eternal, and make it a pleasure. Otherwise it will be
both calamitous, and become painful, grievous, and a
nightmare, and then it will depart. It will cause him to
become like a vagrant, harmful for both his relatives,
and his country, and his nation. If the prisoner has been sentenced unjustly, on
condition he performs the obligatory prayers, each hour
will be the equivalent of a day's worship, and the prison
will be like a recluse's cell. He will be counted among
the pious hermits of olden times who retired to caves in
order to devote themselves to worship. If he is poor,
aged, and ill, and desirous of the truths of belief, on
condition he performs the obligatory prayers and repents,
each hour will become the equivalent of twenty hours'
worship, and prison will become like a resthouse for him,
and because of his friends there who regard him with
affection, a place of love, training, and education. He
will probably be happier staying in prison than being
free, for outside he is confused and subject to the
assaults of sins from all sides. He may receive a
complete education from prison. On being released, it
will not be as a murderer, or thirsting for revenge, but
as someone penitent, proven by trial, wellbehaved, and
beneficial for his nation. In fact, the Denizli prisoners
became so extraordinarily wellbehaved after studying the
Risale-i Nur for only a short time that some of those
concerned said: "Studying the Risale-i Nur for
fifteen weeks is more effective at reforming them than
putting them in prison for fifteen years." Since death does not die and the appointed hour is
unknown, it may come at any time; and since the grave
cannot be closed, and troop after troop enter it and are
lost; and since it has been shown through the truths of
the Qur'an that for those who believe death is
transformed into the discharge papers releasing them from
eternal annihilation, while for the corrupt and the
dissolute it is disappearing for ever into eternal
annihilation, and is unending separation from their loved
ones and all beings, most certainly and with no doubt at
all, the most fortunate person is he who with patience
and thanks fully benefits from his time in prison, and
studying the Risale-i Nur works to serve the Qur'an and
his belief on the straight path. Oh man who is addicted to enjoyment and pleasure! I am
seventy-five years old, and I know with utter certainty
from thousands of experiences, proofs, and events that
true enjoyment, pain-free pleasure, grief-free joy, and
life's happiness are only to be found in belief and in
the sphere of the truths of belief. While a single
worldly pleasure yields numerous pains. As though dealing
ten slaps for a single grape, it drives away all life's
pleasure. Oh you unfortunate people who are experiencing the
disaster of prison! Since your world is weeping and your
life is bitter, strive so that your Hereafter will not
also weep, and your eternal life will smile and be sweet!
Benefit from prison! Just as sometimes under severe
conditions in the face of the enemy, an hour's watch may
be equivalent to a year's worship, so too in the severe
conditions you are under, the hardship of each hour spent
as worship becomes the equivalent of many hours, it
transforms that hardship into mercy.
* * * *
Prison as Profit
In His Name, be He glorified My dear and loyal brothers! I shall explain in three 'Points' an effective solace
for those who are experiencing the calamity of prison,
and for those who kindly help them and faithfully
supervise their food, which comes from outside. First Point: Each day spent in prison
may gain as much as ten days' worship, and, with regards
to their fruits, may transform those transient hours into
enduring hours, and through five or ten years' punishment
may be the means of saving a person from millions of
years of eternal imprisonment. For the believers, the
condition for gaining this most significant and valuable
advantage is to perform the obligatory prayers, repent
for the sins that were the cause of their imprisonment,
and offer thanks in patience. For sure, prison is an
obstacle to many sins: it does not provide the
opportunity for them. Second Point:Just as the cessation of
pleasure causes pain, so also does the cessation of pain
give pleasure. Indeed, on thinking of past happy,
enjoyable days, everyone feels a pang of regret and
longing, and says: "Alas!", and recalling
calamitous, unhappy days of the past, experiences a sort
of pleasure since they are passed, and says: "Praise
and thanks be to God, that calamity has left its reward
and departed." He breathes a sigh of relief. That is
to say, an hour's temporary pain and sorrow leave behind
a sort of pleasure in the spirit, while a pleasurable
hour leaves a pain. Since the reality is thus; and since past calamitous
hours together with their pains are no longer existent,
and future distressing days are at the present time
non-existent, and there is no pain from nothing, to
continually eat bread and drink water today, for example,
because of the possibility of being hungry and thirsty in
several days' time, is most foolish. And in just the same
way, to think now of the past and future unhappy hours,
which simply do not exist, and to show impatience, and
ignoring one's faulty self, to moan as though complaining
about God is also most foolish. So long as the power of
patience is not scattered to left and right, that is, to
the past and future, and is held firm in the face of the
present of hour and day, it is sufficient. The distress
falls from ten to one. In fact, but let it not be complaining, divine favor
pointed out the above fact to me while, during a few days
of material and spiritual affliction, illness, and trial
the like of which I had never before experienced in my
life, I was being crushed in particular by the despair
and distress of the heart and spirit which resulted from
my being unable to serve the Qur'an and belief with the
Risale-i Nur. I was then content with my distressing
illness and imprisonment. For, saying: "It is great
profit for an unfortunate like myself who waits at the
door of the grave to make one hour which might be passed
in heedlessness ten hours' worth of worship", I gave
thanks. Third Point: There is great gain in
compassionately aiding and assisting prisoners, in giving
them the sustenance they need, and in soothing their
spiritual wounds with consolation. And giving them their
food which comes from outside is like almsgiving which,
exactly to the amount of the food, is written in the book
of good deeds of those, outside and inside, who do this,
together with the warders concerned. And especially if
the unhappy prisoner is old, ill, poor, or a stranger,
then the reward of this alms-giving increases many times
over. Thus the condition of this valuable profit is to
perform the obligatory prayers, so that such service is
for God's sake. And another condition is to hasten to
their assistance with sincerity, compassion and joy, and
in such a way as to not make them feel obliged.
* * * *
Reconciliation through The Risale-i Nur
In His Name, be He glorified. And there is not a thing but it glorifies Him with
praise My friends in prison and brothers in religion! It occurred to me to explain a truth to you which will
save you both from worldly torment and the torment of the
Hereafter. It is as follows: For example: A person killed someone's
brother or one of his relatives. A murder which yields
one minute's pleasure of revenge causes millions of
minutes of both distress for the heart and the anguish of
prison. And the fear of revenge by the murdered man's
relatives, and anxiety of finding himself face to face
with his enemy drives away all his pleasure and enjoyment
in life. He suffers the torment of both fear and anger.
There is only one solution for this, and that is
reconciliation, which the Qur'an commands, and truth,
reality, benefit, humanity, and Islam require and
encourage. Indeed, the reality and requirement is peace, because
the appointed hour is set, it does not change. Since his
appointed hour had come, the murdered man would have
stayed no longer in any event. And as for the murderer,
he was the means of God's decree being carried out. So
long as there is no reconciliation, both sides
perpetually suffer the torments of fear and revenge. It
is because of this that Islam commands that "one
believer should not be vexed with another believer for
more than three days". If the murder was not the
result of a vindictive grudge and enmity, and a two-faced
trouble-maker instigated the discord, it is essential to
make peace quickly. Otherwise, that minor disaster
becomes a large one, and continues. If they make peace,
and the murderer repents and prays continuously for the
man he killed, then both sides will gain much and become
like brothers. In place of one departed brother, he will
gain several religious brothers. He will be resigned to
Divine Decree and Determining and forgive his enemy. And
especially since they heed the lessons of the Risale-i
Nur, both individual and public peace and well-being, and
the brotherhood that there is in the sphere of the
Risale-i Nur require that they put aside all the hard
feelings that exist between them. It was thus in Denizli Prison; all the prisoners who
were enemies became brothers through the lessons of the
Risale-i Nur. It was one reason for our acquittal, and
caused even the irreligious and ungodly to say about
those prisoners: "Mashallah! Barekallah!" And
it was an utter relief for those prisoners. I myself have
seen here a hundred men suffer inconvenience on account
of one man and not go out to take exercise together. It
is oppression towards them. A manly believer of sound
conscience will not cause each of hundreds of other
believers harm because of some insignificant and minor
error or benefit. If he makes a mistake and does cause
harm, he should repent immediately.
* * * *
Brotherhood in Prison
My loyal new brothers and old prisoners! I have formed the firm conclusion that, in respect of
divine favor, you are an important cause in our entering
here. That is to say, with its consolation and the truths
of belief, the Risale-i Nur is to save both you from the
distress of this calamity of prison and from much worldly
harm, and your life from passing profitlessly and quite
in vain through grief and sorrow and being wasted on the
winds of fancy, and your Hereafter from weeping like your
world is weeping now; it is to provide you with true
solace. Since the reality of the matter is this, of course you
must be brothers to one another, like the Denizli
prisoners and Students of the Risale-i Nur. You can see
that they examine all your possessions, food, bread, and
soup which come from outside so that a knife does not get
in among you and you do not attack one another. The
warders who faithfully serve you suffer much trouble.
Also, you do not go out to exercise together, as though
you were going to attack one another like wild beasts.
And so, new friends, who are by nature bold and
courageous, with great moral courage you should say to
the group at this time: "If not knives, but Mausers and revolvers were
given us, and the order to fire as well, we would not
hurt our friends who are unfortunate and suffering this
calamity like ourselves. Through the guidance and at the
command of the Qur'an, and belief, and Islamic
brotherhood, and our interests, we have decided to
forgive them and to try not to offend them, even if
formerly there were a hundred reasons for our enmity and
hostility." And so transform this prison into an
auspicious place of study.
* * * *
Deliverance through Belief
Seventh Hope
from
Treatise for the Elderly One time at the start of my old age when the laughter
of the Old Said was being transformed into the weeping of
the New Said, supposing me still to be the Old Said, the
worldly in Ankara invited me there, and I went. At the
close of autumn I climbed to the top of the citadel,
which was far more aged, dilapidated, and worn out than
me. It seemed to me to be formed of petrified historical
events. The old age of the season of the year together
with my old age, the citadel's old age, mankind's old
age, the old age of the glorious Ottoman State and the
death of the Caliphate's rule, and the world's old age
all caused me to look in a most grieved, compassionate
and melancholy state in that lofty citadel at the valleys
of the past and the mountains of the future. As I
experienced an utterly black state of mind in Ankara
encompassed by four or five layers of the darknesses of
old age one within the other*, I sought a light, a
solace, a hope.
*. My state of mind at that time prompted me to write
a supplication in Persian. It was printed in Ankara, in a
treatise entitled, Hubab.
As I sought consolation looking to the right, that is,
to the past, my father and forefathers and the human race
appeared in the form of a vast grave and filled me with
gloom rather than consoling me. Seeking a remedy I looked
to the future, which was my left. I saw that it appeared
as a huge, dark grave for myself, my contemporaries, and
future generations; it produced horror in place of
familiarity. Feeling desolate in the face of the left and
right, I looked at the present day. It appeared to my
heedless and historical eye as a coffin bearing my
half-dead, suffering and desperately struggling corpse.
Then, despairing from that direction as well, I raised my
head and looked at the top of the tree of my life, and
saw that the tree bore only a single fruit, and that was
my corpse; it stood at the top of the tree and was
watching me. Feeling horror at this direction, too, I
bowed my head. I looked to the foot of the tree of my
life, to its roots, and saw that the soil there, the
earth which was the source of my creation and the dust of
my bones mixed together, was being trampled underfoot.
That was no remedy, rather it added further pain to my
affliction. Then I was forced to look behind me. I saw that this
unstable, transient world was tumbling, disappearing into
the valleys of nothingness and the darkness of
non-existence. While seeking a salve for my pain, it only
added poison. Since I could see no good in that direction
I looked in front of me, I sent forward my view to the
future. I saw that the door of the grave was to be seen
open right in the middle of my path, it was watching me
with its mouth open. The highway beyond it which
stretched away to eternity, and the convoys travelling
that highway struck the eye from the distance. And apart
from a limited, partial power of choice as my support and
defensive weapon in the face of the horrors coming from
these six directions, I had nothing else. Since the partial power of choice, man's only weapon
against those innumerable enemies and endless harmful
things, is both defective, and short, and weak, and lacks
the power to create, man is capable of nothing apart from
acquisition. I could neither pass to the past in order to
silence the sorrows which came to me from there, nor
could I penetrate the future to prevent the fears which
came from there. I saw that there was no benefit in my
hopes and pains concerning the past and future. At the time I was struggling in the horror,
desolation, darkness and despair coming from these six
directions, the lights of belief which shine in the sky
of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition suddenly came to
my assistance. They lit up and illuminated those six
directions to such a degree that if the terrors and
darkness I had seen increased a hundredfold, that light
would still have been sufficient to meet them. It
transformed all those horrors one by one into solace and
the desolation into familiarity. It was as follows: Belief rent asunder the desolate view of the past as a
vast grave, and showed it with utter certainty to be a
familiar and enlightened gathering of friends. And belief showed the future, which had appeared in
the form of a huge grave to my heedless eyes, to be most
certainly a banquet of the Most Merciful One in
delightful palaces of bliss. And belief rent the view of present time as a coffin,
as it had appeared to my heedless view, and showed it
with certainty to be a place of trade for the Hereafter
and a glittering guest-house of the All Merciful One. And belief showed with utter certainty that the only
fruit at the top of the tree of life was not a corpse as
had appeared to my neglectful eye, rather, that my
spirit, which would manifest eternal life and was
designated for eternal happiness, would leave its wom out
home to travel around the stars. And belief showed through the mystery of belief that
my bones and the earth which was the source of my
creation were not valueless pulverized bones trampled
underfoot, rather, that the soil was the door to Divine
Mercy and a veil before the hall of Paradise. And belief showed through the mystery of the Qur'an
that the world which had appeared to my heedless eye
behind me as tumbling into nothingness and non-existence
to consist of missives of the Eternally Besought One and
pages of decorations and embroideries glorifying God
which had completed their duties, stated their meanings,
and left their results in existence in their place. It
made known with complete certainty what the true nature
of the world is. And belief showed through the light of the Qur'an that
the grave which would open its eyes and look at me in the
future was not the door of a well, rather, that it was
the door to the world of light, and that the highway
which stretched to eternity beyond the grave led not to
nothingness and non-existence, but to existence, a place
of light, and eternal bliss. Since belief demonstrated
this to a degree which afforded utter conviction, it was
both a remedy and a salve for my afflictions. And in place of a very minor ability to receive,
belief puts a document into the hand of the limited,
partial power of choice so that it may rely on an
infinite Power and be connected to a boundless Mercy in
the face of those innumerable enemies and layers of
darkness. Indeed, belief is a document in the hand of the
partial power of choice. And although this human weapon
of partial choice, is in itself both short, and
powerless, and deficient, just as when a soldier utilizes
his partial strength on account of the state, he performs
duties far exceeding his own strength, so too through the
mystery of belief, if the limited, partial power of
choice is used in the name of Almighty God and in His
way, it may gain also a Paradise as broad as five hundred
years. And belief takes from the hands of the body the reins
of the partial power of choice, which cannot penetrate to
the past and future, and hands them over to the heart and
spirit. Since the spirit and heart's sphere of life is
not restricted to present time like the body, and
included within it are a great many I years from the past
and a great many years from the future, the partial power
of choice ceases being partial and acquires universality.
Just as through the strength of belief it may enter the
deepest valleys of the past and repel the darkness of its
sorrows, so also with the light of belief it may rise as
far as the farthest mountains of the future, and remove
its fears. And so my elderly brothers and sisters who are
suffering the difficulties of old age like myself! Since,
praise be to God, we are believers, and in belief there
are this many luminous, pleasurable, agreeable, and
gratifying treasures; and since our old age impels us
even more to the contents of the treasure, for sure,
rather than complaining about old age accompanied by
belief, we should offer endless thanks.
* * * *
The Inner Face of the World
Eighth Hope
from
Treatise for the Elderly At a time when gray hairs, the sign of old age, were
appearing in my hair, the turmoil of the First World War
which made even heavier the deep sleep of youth, the
upheaval of my captivity as a prisoner-of-war, the
position of great fame and honor accorded to me on my
final return to Istanbul and the kind treatment and
attention far exceeding my due from everyone, from the
Caliph, even, sheyhu'lIslam, and Commander-in-Chief of
the Army to the medrese students, the intoxication of
youth, and the mental state produced by position made the
sleep of youth so heavy that I quite simply saw the world
as permanent and myself in a wonderful undying situation
cemented to it. Then, one day in Ramazan, I went to Bayazid Mosque to
listen to the sincere reciters of the Qur'an. The Qur'an
of Miraculous Exposition was proclaiming with its exalted
heavenly address through the tongues of the reciters the
decree of, _ Every living creature shall taste death
which most powerfully tells of man's death and that of
all animate creatures. It entered my ear, penetrated to
the depths of my heart and established itself there; it
shattered that profound sleep and heedlessness. I went
out from the mosque. Because of the stupor of the sleep
which for a long time had settled in my head, for several
days a tempest was now raging in it, and I saw myself as
a boat with smoking boilers and compass spinning. Every
time I looked at my hair in the mirror, the grey hairs
told me: "Take note of us!" And so the
situation became clear through the warnings of my gray
hairs. I looked and saw that my youth which so captivated me
with its pleasures and in which I so trusted was bidding
me farewell, and that this worldly life which I so loved
and with which I was so involved was beginning to be
extinguished, and that the world with which I was closely
connected and of which I was quite simply the lover was
saying to me: "Have a good journey", and was
warning me that I would be leaving this guest-house.
Itself, too, was saying "Good-bye", and was
preparing to leave. From the indications of the Qur'an of
Miraculous Exposition's verse, Every living creature shall taste death*, the following meaning was unfolding in my heart: the
human race is a living creature; it shall die in order to
be resurrected. And the globe of the earth is a living
creature; it also will die in order to take on an eternal
form. And the world, too, is a living creature; it will
die in order to assume the form of the Hereafter
*Qur'an 21:35, etc.
So, while in this state, I considered my situation. I
saw that youth, which is the source of pleasure, was
departing, and old age, which is the source of sorrow,
was approaching, that life, which is so shining and
luminous, was taking its leave, while death, which is
terrifying and apparently darkness was preparing to
arrive, and that the lovable world, which is thought to
be permanent and is the beloved of the heedless, was
hastening to its decease. In order to deceive myself and again plunge my head
into heedlessness I considered the pleasures of the
social standing I enjoyed in Istanbul, which was far
higher than my due, but there was no advantage in it at
all. All their regard, attention, and consolation could
only come as far as the looming door of the grave; there
it would be extinguished. And since I saw it as a tedious
hypocrisy, cold conceit, and temporary stupefaction under
the embellished veil of glory and renown, which is the
imaginary aim of the worshippers of fame, I understood
that-these things which had deceived me until then could
provide me with no solace, there was no light to be found
in them at all. I again started to listen to the reciters in Bayazid
Mosque in order to hear the Qur'an's heavenly teaching,
and to awaken once more. Then from that sub I lime
instruction I heard good news through sacred decrees of
the sort, And give glad tidings to those who believe* Through the effulgence of the Qur'an, I sought
consolation, hope, and light, not outside them, but
within the points at which I had felt horror, desolation,
and despair. A hundred thousand thanks be to Almighty
God, I found the cure within the malady itself. I found
the light within the darkness itself. I found the solace
within the horror itself.
* Qur'an 2:25, etc.
Firstly, I looked in the face of death, which is
imagined to be the most terrible thing, and terrifies
everyone. Through the light of the Qur'an I saw that
although death's veil is black, dark, and ugly, for
believers its true face is luminous and beautiful. And we
have proved this truth decisively in many parts of the
Risale-i Nur. For example, as we explained in the Eighth
Word and the Twentieth Letter death is not
annihilation, it is not separation, it is rather the
introduction to eternal life, its beginning. It is a rest
from the hardships of life's duties, a demobilization. It
is a change of residence. It is to meet with the caravan
of one's friends who have already migrated to the
Intermediate World; and so on. I saw death's true,
beautiful face through truths like these. It was not with
fear that I looked at death's face, indeed, in a sense,
it was with longing. I understood one meaning of the
Sufis' 'contemplation of death'. Then I looked at my departed youth-youth, which makes
everyone weep with its passing, which infatuates and
fills them with desire, causing them to pass it in sin
and heedlessness. I saw that within its beautiful
embroidered garb was a most ugly, drunken, stupefied
face. Had I not learned its true nature, instead of
intoxicating and amusing me for a few years if I remained
in the world a hundred years, it would have made me weep
that long. Just as one such person said lamenting: "If only one day my youth would return, I would
tell it of the woes old age has brought me. " Indeed, elderly people like the one above who do not
know the true nature of youth, think of their own youth,
and weep with regret and longing. But when youth belongs
to believers with sound minds and hearts, so long as they
spend it on worship, good works, and trade for the
Hereafter, it is the most powerful, agreeable and
pleasant means of securing that trade and those good
works. And for those who know their religious duties, and
do not misspend their youth, it is a most precious and
delightful divine bounty. When it is not spent in
moderation, uprightness, and fear of God, it contains
many dangers, it damages eternal happiness and the life
of this world. Indeed, in return for the pleasures of one
or two years' youth, it causes many years of grief and
sorrow in old age. Since for most people youth is harmful, we elderly
people should thank God that we have been saved from its
dangers and harm. Like everything else, the pleasures of
youth depart. If they have been spent on worship and good
works, the fruits of such a youth remain perpetually in
their place and are the means of gaining youth in eternal
life. Next, I considered the world, with which most people
are infatuated and to which they are addicted. Through
the light of the Qur'an, I saw that the world has three
faces, one within the other: The First: This looks to the Divine
Names; it is a mirror to them. Its Second Face: This looks to the
Hereafter, and is its tillage. Its Third Face: This looks to the
worldly; it is the playground of the heedless. Moreover, everyone has his own vast world in this
world. Simply, there are worlds one within the other to
the number of human beings. But the pillar of everyone's
private world is his own life. Whenever his body gives
way, his world collapses on his head, it is doomsday for
him. Since the heedless and neglectful do not realize
that their world will be so quickly destroyed, they
suppose it to be permanent like the general world and
worship it. I thought to myself: "I, too, have a
private world that will swiftly collapse and be
demolished like the worlds of other people. What value is
there in this private world, this brief life of
mine?" Then, through the light of the Qur'an I saw that both
for myself and everyone else, this world is a temporary
place of trade, a guest-house which is every day filled
and emptied, a market set up on the road for the
passers-by to shop in, an ever-renewed notebook of the
Pre-Eternal Inscriber which is constantly written and
erased, and every spring is a gilded letter, and every
summer a well-composed ode, that it is formed of mirrors
reflecting and renewing the manifestations of the
All-Glorious Maker's Names, is a seed-bed of the
Hereafter, a flower-bed of Divine Mercy, and a special,
temporary workshop for producing signboards which will be
displayed in the World of Permanence. I offered a hundred thousand thanks to the
All-Glorious Creator Who had made the world in this way.
And I understood that while love for the beautiful, inner
faces of the world which look to the Hereafter and Divine
Names had been given to mankind, since they spent it on
its transient, ugly, harmful, heedless face, they
manifested the meaning of the Hadith: "Love of this
world is the source of all transgression". And so, o elderly people! I realized this truth
through the light of the All-Wise Qur'an and the warnings
of my old age and belief opening my eyes. And I have
demonstrated it with decisive proofs in many places in
the Risale-i Nur. I experienced a true solace, powerful
hope, and shining light. I was thankful for my old age.
And I was happy that my youth had gone. You, too, do not
weep, but offer thanks. Since there is belief and the
truth is thus, let the heedless weep, let the misguided
lament.
* * * *
The Air: A Window onto Divine Unity
In His Name, be He glorified And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with
praise. My very dear and loyal brothers! My brothers, I observed in a subtle point concerning
God's Unity, which suddenly became clear while studying
the page of the air on a journey of the imagination and
mind, that is, in the word HE in the phrases THERE IS NO
GOD BUT HE, and, SAY HE IS GOD, (and that was only in its
material aspect) that the way of belief is infinitely
easy, easy to the point of being necessary, and that the
way of misguidance and associating partners with God is
infinitely difficult, so difficult as to be impossible. I
shall explain that long and extensive point with an
extremely brief indication. Indeed, if soil, one handful of which can act as a
flower-pot for hundreds of plants in turn, is attributed
to nature or causes, it becomes necessary either for
there to be present in such a handful hundreds of
immaterial machines, rather, machines and factories to
the number of the plants, or for each particle of that
small amount of soil to know how to make all those
different plants together with their different
characteristics and living organs; quite simply, each
would have to possess infinite knowledge and limitless
power like a god. The same is true for the air, which is a place of
maximum manifestation of the Divine Will and Command;
either there would have to be present on a minute scale
in each of its molecules, in each waft of wind, each
breath, and in the tiny amount air expended with the word
HE, the innumerable different exchanges, centers,
receivers and transmitters of all the telephones,
telegraphs and radios in the world so that each could
perform those innumerable acts at the same time. Or each
particle of each molecule of air exhaled with HE, and
indeed of the element air, would have to possess
abilities and personalities to the number of all the
different telephone users, telegraphers, and those who
speak on the radio, and know all their different
languages, and broadcast them to the other particles at
the same time. For such a situation is actually apparent,
and every bit of air possesses that ability. Thus, in the
ways of the unbelievers, Naturalists, and Materialists
not one impossibility, but impossibilities and
difficulties are clearly apparent to the number of
molecules of air. If attributed to the All-Glorious Maker, however, the
air together with all its particles becomes a soldier
under His command. With its Creator's permission and
through His power, and through being connected to its
Creator and relying on Him, and through the manifestation
of its Maker's Power, in an instant with the speed of
lightening, and with the ease of uttering the word HE and
the movement of the air in waves, its innumerable
universal duties are performed as easily as an orderly,
single duty of a single particle. That is to say, the air
becomes a page for the endless, wonderful, and orderly
writings of the pen of Power. And its particles become
the nibs of the pen, and their duties the points
inscribed by it. The air functions as easily as the
movement of a single particle. And so, while on my journey of contemplation prompted
by the phrases THERE IS NO GOD BUT HE, and, SAY, HE IS
GOD, and while observing the world of the air and
studying the page of that element, I witnessed this brief
truth with utter certainty and clarity, and in detail.
And I understood with 'certainty at the degree of
knowledge' that it was because there is in the word HE,
in the air of its utterance, such a brilliant proof and
flash of Divine Unity, and also in its meaning and
allusions such a luminous manifestation of Divine Oneness
and powerful proof of Divine Unity, and in that proof an
indication that since the pronoun HE is unconditional and
indefinite, it suggests the question, "Who does it
refer to?" that both the Qur'an of Miraculous
Exposition and those who constantly recite the Divine
Names frequently repeat this sacred word in the station
of Unity. Indeed, if, for example, there is one point on
a piece of white paper and two or three other points are
jumbled around with it and then someone who already has
numerous jobs tries to distinguish them, he will be
confused; and if many burdens are loaded on a small
creature, it will be crushed; and if numerous words issue
from one tongue and enter one ear altogether at the same
time, their order will be broken and they will be a
muddle. Despite this being the case, I saw with complete
certainty that with the key and compass of HE, although
thousands of different points, letters and words had been
put in each molecule-and even in each particle-of the
element air, through which I journeyed in my mind,
neither did they become mixed up nor did they spoil their
order; and although they performed a great many different
duties, these were carried out without being confused in
any way; and although very heavy loads were laid on each
molecule and particle, they bore them in order without
lagging or displaying any weakness at all. And I saw that
thousands of different words of all different sorts enter
and issue with perfect order from what is in effect those
minute ears and tongues without being mixed up and spoilt
in any way, they enter those minute ears and issue from
those tiny tongues, and by performing these extraordinary
duties, each particle and each molecule declares through
the enraptured tongue of its being and its perfect
freedom, and through the testimony and tongue of the
above truth: THERE IS NO GOD BUT HE, and: SAY, HE IS GOD,
THE ONE, and travels among air-clashing waves like storms
and lightening and thunder without in any way spoiling
their order or confusing their duties. And one duty is
not an obstacle to another duty. I observed this and was
utterly certain. That is to say, either every particle and piece of the
air has to possess infinite wisdom, knowledge, will, and
power, and the qualities for being absolutely dominant
over all the other particles so that it can be the means
of those functions being carried out, which is absurd and
impossible to the number of particles, and no devil even
could imagine it, or else, and it is self-evident to the
degree of 'certainty at the degree of knowledge',
'certainty at the degree of witnessing', and 'absolute
certainty' that the page of the air functions through the
boundless, infinite knowledge and wisdom of the
All-Glorious One, and is the changing page for the pen of
Divine Power and Determining, and like a signboard for
writing and erasing, known as a Tablet of Appearance and
Dissolution, which has the function of the Preserved
Tablet in the world of transformation and change. Thus, just as the element of air demonstrates the
above-mentioned wonders and manifestation of Divine Unity
in only the duty of transmitting sound and shows the
impossibilities of misguidance, so also does it perform
other important duties like transmitting subtle forces
and energy, like electricity, light, and the forces of
attraction and repulsion with order and without confusing
them. And at the same time as conveying these, with
perfect order, it carries out duties essential for the
lives of all plants and animals, such as respiration and
pollination. It proves in decisive fashion that it is a
place of maximum manifestation of the Divine Will and
Command. I came to the firm conclusion that it proves
that in no way is there any possibility of vagrant
chance, blind force, deaf nature, confused, aimless
causes, and powerless, lifeless, unknowing matter
interfering in the writing and duties of the page of the
air. And I understood that every particle and part of it
says with the tongue of its being: SAY, HE IS GOD, THE
ONE, and: THERE IS NO GOD BUT HE. And just as with the
key of HE I saw these wonders in the material aspect of
the air, so also, as a HE, did the element of air become
a key to the World of Similitudes and the World of
Meaning. I saw that the World of Similitudes is all the time
taking innumerable photographs without confusing them,
and that each photograph contains innumerable events
occurring in this world. I understood that it was a
gigantic camera, and a vast cinema of the Hereafter
thousands of times larger than the world for showing the
fruits of the transitory and impermanent states and lives
of ephemeral beings in eternal theaters, for showing to
those enjoying everlasting bliss in Paradise scenes from
their old memories and adventures in this world* While
the faculties of memory and imagination, which are two
proofs, two small examples, and two points of both the
Preserved Tablet and the World of Similitudes situated in
man's head, are as tiny as lentils, within them are
written in perfect order and without being mixed up as
much information as contained in a large library. This
proves decisively that the great and large examples of
those faculties are the World of Similitudes and the
Preserved Tablet.
*Since the time and place and conditions do not allow
this to be proved with firm proofs and arguments like
clear facts, it is cut short here.
It is definite and certain with 'certainty at the
degree of knowledge' that the elements of air and water,
and the element air and water like seminal fluid in
particular, are far superior to the element of earth, and
are written with more wisdom and will, and with the pen
of Divine Determining and Power, and that it is
completely impossible for chance, blind force, deaf
nature, and lifeless and aimless causes to interfere in
them, and that they are a page of the pen of Power and
the wisdom of the All-Wise One of Glory.
* * * *
On Recognizing the World's Owner
FIFTH MATTER: Since this world is transitory
and this life brief; and since the duties to be
accomplished here are many and eternal life is to be
gained here; and since this guest-house of the world is
not without an owner, but has a most Wise and Generous
Manager; and since neither good works nor bad will remain
without recompense; and since according to the verse, On no soul does God place a burden greater than it
can bear*, nothing is proposed by God which is unbearable; and
since a safe way is preferable to a harmful one; and
since worldly friends and position continue only to the
door of the grave, for sure, the most fortunate person is
he who does not forget the Hereafter for the sake of this
world, nor sacrifice the Hereafter for this world, nor
spoil his eternal life for the sake of his life here,.
nor waste his life on trifles, but considers himself to
be a guest and acts in accordance with the commands of
the guest-house's owner, 7 opens the door of the grave
with safety, and enters eternal bliss.
*Qur'an 2:286
* * * *
The Best Youth
YOUR SEVENTH QUESTION:Is the following a
Hadith, and what is meant by it? "The best youth is
the one who resembles an elderly man, while the worst
elderly man is the one who resembles a youth." THE ANSWER:I have heard that it is a Hadith.
Its meaning is this: The best youth is one who, thinking
of death and working for the Hereafter like an elderly
person, does not become a prisoner to the desires of
youth and submerged in heedlessness. And the worst of the
elderly among you is one who wants to resemble a youth in
heedlessness and sensuality, and follows the desires of
the soul like a child. The correct form of the second part you saw on your
board is the following, which I have hung above me as
words of wisdom. I look at it every morning and evening,
and take a lesson from it: "If you want a friend, God is sufficient."
Yes, if He is a friend, everything is a friend. "If you want a companion, the Qur'an is
sufficient." For sure, in your imagination, you can
meet Page 71 & 72 are missing pletely, and after the
illness has completed its duty, God willing, the
All-Compassionate Creator will restore your health."
Also, I used to say: "Through the calamity of
health, and through falling into heedlessness, abandoning
the obligatory prayers, not thinking of the grave,
forgetting God, and an hour's superficial pleasure of the
life of this world, some of your contemporaries shake and
damage a boundless eternal life, and perhaps even destroy
it. Whereas, through the eye of illness you see the
grave, which is an abode you will in any event enter, and
the dwellingplaces of the Hereafter beyond it, and you
behave in accordance with them. That is to say, for you
illness is health, while for some of your contemporaries,
health is a sickness..."
* * * *
On The Evils of The Soul
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the
Compassionate. This is a point concerning the verse, the meaning of
which is: The [human] soul is certainly prone to evil*, and the Hadith, the meaning of which is: Your most harmful enemy is your own soul. So long as an unpurified evil-commanding soul is
present in a person, and he loves and fancies himself, he
will not love anyone else. Even if he apparently loves
them, he will not do so sincerely. Rather, he will love
for the benefits and pleasure to be gained, and will
always try to make himself liked and admired. He will not
attribute faults to himself, but will defend and
exonerate himself like a lawyer. Praising and absolving
himself with exaggerations and even lies, he will quite
simply worship himself, and in accordance with the degree
of it, will receive a slap from the verse, Who takes as his god his own desires**
*Qur'an 12:53
And as for his boasting and trying to make him self
liked, it will attract coldness and an unsympathetic
reception as a reaction. Moreover, he will lose sincerity in the aspect of his
actions which pertain to the Hereafter, he will mix
hypocrisy in with them. He will be conquered by emotions
which do not consider the consequences, nor think of the
results, and are addicted to the pleasure of the moment;
through the fetwa' of feelings which have gone astray, he
will languish in prison for a year, because of one hour's
pleasure. He will suffer ten years' punishment on account
of one minute's arrogance or revenge. Simply, like an
idle child who sells his lesson book containing the last
thirtieth part of the Qur'an* for a single sweet, in
order to gratify his senses, indulge his fancies, and
satisfy his desires, he will make his good works, which
are as valuable as diamonds, the means for egotistical
pleasures, which resemble valueless fragments of glass;
he will make a loss in what could be profitable. Oh God! Preserve us from the evil of the soul and
Satan, and from the evil of jinn and men. Amen
*Trans. note: When learning the Qur'an, children start
with this last section of the Qur'an.
* * * *
False Awakening
Know, Oh friend! I am among those included in
the poem the meaning of which is: "My eyes were
sleeping during my youth, which resembles night. I awoke
only with the morning of old age." For I thought I
had risen to the highest peak of awakening in youth, but
now I understand that that awakening was not awakening,
it consisted only of being in the deepest sleep.
Therefore, the illumination of awakening which the
'cultured' talk of pretentiously and with pride must be
the sort I experienced in my youth. The example of such people is that of the sleeper who
as though awake in his dream, tells the dream to others.
Whereas, his waking up in his dream indicates that he has
passed from an insubstantial veil of sleep to a thick and
profound one. Such a sleeper is as though dead. How can
he arouse people who are half asleep? Oh you who consider yourselves to be in full
possession of your senses while being asleep! Do not
incline towards the 'cultured', nor be tolerant towards
them in matters of religion, nor try to resemble them.
For the gulf between us is of great depth. You will not
be able to fill it up and establish a line of
communication. You will either join them, or fall into
misguidance, and drown.
* * * *
A Strange Aspect of Man
THIRD SIGN
Oh man! A most strange aspect which the always Creator
has included in your make-up is this: although sometimes
you cannot settle in the world, and like a man whose
throat is constricted in prison you gasp and long for
somewhere broader than the world, at other times you
enter into some miniscule matter, a memory, a moment, and
settle there. Your heart and thought, which cannot be
situated in the vast world, are situated in those
miniscule matters. You wander around with your most
powerful emotions in that fragment of time, in that tiny
memory. And He has given you such immaterial tools and subtle
faculties that if some of them consumed the world, they
would not be satisfied. Some of them cannot situate a
minute particle within themselves. Although the head can
raise a load of stones, like the eye cannot raise a
single hair, a faculty such as those cannot sustain the
weight of a hair; that is, they cannot bear even a slight
condition arising from heedlessness and misguidance.
Sometimes even they are extinguished and die. Since it is
thus, be on the alert, tread carefully, be wary of
sinking! Do not drown in a mouthful, a word, a seed, a
flash, a sign, a kiss! Do not plunge all your subtle
faculties, which can swallow the world, into them! For
there are very small things which in some respect swallow
very large things. Just as the sky together with all its
stars may enter into a small piece of glass and drown in
it, and most of the pages of your deeds and leaves of
your life enter your faculty of memory, which is as tiny
as a mustard seed, so too there are many small particular
things that in one respect swallow and contain large
things such as those.
|