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| gencnurCom | From the
Risale-i Nur Collection The Twentieth
Letter THE KEY TO
BELIEF Bediuzzaman
Said Nursi Contents Preface The
Twentieth Letter Introduction The
Happy News For Believers Reflections
On Unity An
Addendum to the Tenth Phrase of
the Twentieth Letter The
Direct Way to the Truth The
Need For Renewal of Belief The
Requirements of Belief The
Degrees of Belief. The
Most Valuable Service to Life The
Attaining of True Belief. The
Twentieth Letter In His Name,
be He glorified! And there is
nothing but it glorifies Him with praise .1
l.Qur*an, 2.
BukJiäri, Adhän, 155; Muslim, Dhikr, 28, 30,74, 75, 76;
Tir-midhl, Mawäqit, 108; Nasä'i, Sahw, 83-6; Ibn Maja, Tijära,
40; Abs DSM, Manäsik, 56; Däriml, Salät, 88, 90; Muwatta',
Hajj, 127, 243; Musnad, i, 47; ii, 5; al-IJäkim, al-Mustadrak,
i, 538. There
is no god but God, He is One, He has no partner; His is
the dominion and His is the praise; He alone grants life,
and deals death, and He is living and dies not; all good
is in His hand, He is powerful over all things, and with
Him all things have their end.1
Introduction
Be
certain of this, that the highest aim of creation and its
most important result are belief in God. The most exalted
rank in humanity and its highest degree are the knowledge
of God contained within belief in God. The most radiant
happiness and sweetest bounty for jinn and human beings
are the love of God contained within the knowledge of
God. And the purest joy for the human spirit and the
sheerest delight for man's heart are the rapture of the
spirit contained within the love of God. Indeed, all true
happiness, pure joy, sweet bounties, and untroubled
pleasure lie in knowledge of God and love of God; they
cannot exist without them. One
who knows and loves God Almighty is potentially able to
receive endless bounties, happiness, lights, and
mysteries. While one who does not truly know and love him
is afflicted spiritually and materially by endless
misery, pain, and fears. Even if such an impotent and
miserable person
owned
the whole world, it would be worth nothing for him, for
it would seem to him that he was living a fruitless
life among the vagrant human race in a wretched world
without owner or protector. Everyone may understand just
how wretched and bewildered is man among the vagrant
human race in this bewildering fleeting world if he does
not know his Owner, if he does not discover his Master.
But if he does discover and know Him, he will seek refuge
in His mercy and will rely on His power. The desolate
world will turn into a place of recreation and pleasure,
it will become a place of trade for the hereafter. ¦ FIRST
STATION The
Happy News For Believers Each of the
eleven phrases of.the above-mentioned sentence affirming
Divine Unity contains some good news. .And in the good
news of . each lies a cure, while in each of those cures,
a spritual pleasure may be found. FIRST
PHRASE: 'There is no god but God.'
able
enemies. On the one hand it finds a place of recourse, a
source of help, through which is opened to it the door of
a treasury of mercy that will guarantee all its needs.
While on the other it finds a point of support and
strength, for the phrase makes known to it its Creator
and True Object of Worship, Who possesses an absolute
power that will secure it from the evil of all its
enemies; it shows it its master, and who it is that
owns it. Through pointing this out, the phrase saves the
heart from utter desolation and the spirit from aching
sorrow; it ensures an eternal joy, a perpetual happiness.
SECOND
PHRASE: 'He is One.' This
phrase announces the following good news, which is both
healing and a source of happiness: Man's
spirit and heart, which are connected to most of the
creatures in the universe and reach the point of being
overwhelmed in misery and confusion on account of this
connection, find in the phrase 'He is One' a refuge and
protector that will deliver them from all the confusion
and bewilderment. That
is to say, it is as if 'He is One' is saying to man:
"God is One. Do not wear yourself out having
recourse to other things; do not demean yourself and
feel indebted to them; do not flatter them and fawn on
them and humiliate yourself; do not follow them and make
things difficult for yourself; do not fear them and
tremble before them; because the Monarch of the universe
is One, the key to all things is with Him, thé reins of
all things are in His hand, everything will be resolved
by His command. If you find Him, you will be saved from
endless indebtedness, countless fears." THIRD
PHRASE: 'He has no partner.' Just
as in His Divinity and in His sovereignty He has no
partner, God is One and He cannot be many, so too in His
dominicality and in His actions and in His creating He
has no partner. It sometimes happens that a monarch is
one, having no partner in his sovereignty, but in the
execution Of his affairs his officials act as his
partners; they prevent However,
God Almighty, the Monarch of Pre-Eternity and
Post-Eternity, has no partner in His sovereignty, just as
He has no need for partners or helpers in the execution
of His dominicality. If it were not for His. command and
will, His strength and power, not a single thing could
interfere with another. Everyone can have recourse to Him
directly. Since He has no partner or helper, it may not
be said to someone seeking recourse, "It is
forbidden, you may not enter into His presence." This
phrase, therefore, delivers the following joyful
announcement to the human spirit: the human spirit which
has attained to faith may, without let or hindrance,
opposition or interference, in any state, for any wish,
at any time and in any place, enter the presence of the
All-Beauteous and Glorious One, the One of power and
perfection, Who is the Pre-Eternal and Post-Eternal Owner
of the treasuries of mercy, the treasuries of bliss, and
may present its needs. Finding His mercy and relying,
on His power, it will attain perfect ease and happiness. FOURTH
PHRASE: 'His is the dominion.' That
is to say, ownership is altogether His. As for you, you
are both His property, you are owned by Him, and you work
in His property. This phrase announces the following
joyful and healing news: "O
mankind! Do not suppose that you own
yourself,
for you have no control over any of the things that
concern you; such a load would be heavy. Also, you are
unable to protect yourself, to avoid disasters, or to do
those things that you must. In which case, do not suffer
pain and torment without reason, the ownership is
another's. The Owner is both Ail-Powerful and
All-Merciful; rely on His power and do not cast
aspersions on His mercy! Put grief behind you, be joyful!
Discard your troubles and find serenity!" It
also says: "The universe, which you love, to which
you are connected and which grieves you by its
confusedness and which you are unable to put right, is
the property of an All-Powerful and Merciful One. So
hand over the property to its Owner, leave it to Him.
Attract His pleasure, not His harshness. He is both
All-Wise and All-Merciful. He has free disposal over His
property and administers it as He wishes. Whenever you
take fright, say like Ibrahim Hakki: 'Let's see what the
Master does; whatever He does, it is best;' see it well,
and do not interfere!" FIFTH
PHRASE: 'His is the praise.' Praise,
laudation, and acclaim are proper to Him, "O
mankind! Do not suffer and sorrow when bounties cease,
for the treasury of mercy is inexhaustible. Do not
dwell on the fleeting nature of "Within
an apple an august monarch presents to you is a pleasure
superior to that of a hundred, rather a thousand, apples
because it is he that has bestowed it on you and made you
experience the pleasure of a royal favour. In the same
way, through the phrase 'His is the praise' will be
opened to you the door of a spiritual pleasure a thousand
times sweeter than the bounty itself. For this phrase
means to offer praise and thanks; that is to say, to
perceive the bestowal of bounty. This in turn means to
recognize the Bestower, which is to reflect on the
bestowal of bounty, and so finally to ponder over the
favour of His compassion and His continuing to bestow
bounties." SIXTH
PHRASE: 'He alone grants life.' That
is, the giver of life is He. The one who causes life to
continue by means of sustenance is again He. The supplier
of the necessities of life is also He. And the exalted
aims of life pertain to Him and its important results
look to Him and ninety-nine out of a hundred of its
fruits are His. Thus, this phrase calls out to ephemeral
and impotent man in this way, it makes this joyful
announcement: "O
man! Do not trouble yourself by taking the heavy
responsibilities of life onto your own shoulders. Do
not think of the transience of life and start grieving.
Do not see only its worldly and unimportant fruits and
regret that you came to this world. Rather, the
life-machine in the ship of your being belongs to the
Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One, and it is He Who
provides for all its expenses and requirements. Also,
your life has a great many aims and results and they
pertain to Him, too. "As
for you, you are just a helmsman on the ship, so do your
duty well and take the wage and pleasure that come with
it. Think just how precious is the life-ship and how
valuable its benefits; then think just how Generous and
Merciful is the Owner of the ship. So, rejoice and give
thanks and know that when you perform your duty with
integrity, all the results the ship produces will in one
respect be transferred to the register of your actions,
that they will secure an immortal life for you, will
endow you with eternal life." SEVENTH
PHRASE: 'And deals death.' That
is, the one who causes death is He. He discharges you
from the duty of life, changes your abode from this
transitory world, and releases you from the labour of
service. That is, He takes you from a transient life to
an immortal one. This phrase, then, shouts out the
following to ephemeral jinn and man: "Here is
good news for you! Death is not EIGHTH
PHRASE: 'And He is living and dies riot.' That
is to say, the Possessor of a beauty, perfection, and
munificence that are infinitely superior to the beauty,
perfection, and munificence to be seen in all the
creatures of the universe, and that arouse love, and an
Eternal Object of Worship, an Everlasting Beloved, one
single manifestation of Whose beauty is sufficent to
replace all other beloveds, has an enduring life through
pre-eternity and post-eternity — a life free from any
trace of cessation or ephemerality and exempt from any
fault, defect, or imperfection. Thus, this phrase
proclaims to jinn and man, to all conscious beings, and
the people of love and ardour: "Here
is good news for you! There is an Everlasting Beloved
Who will cure and bind your wounds caused by countiess
separations from the ones you love. Since He exists and
is undying, whatever may happen do not fret over the
others. Furthermore, the beauty and generosity, virtue
and NINTH
PHRASE: 'AH good is in His hand.' Every
good action you perform is transferred to His register.
Every righteous deed you do is recorded with Him. Thus,
this phrase calls out to jinn and mankind with the
following good news: TENTH
PHRASE: 'And He is Powerful over all things.' That
is, He is One, He is Unique, He has Power over
everything. Nothing at all is difficult for Him. To
create the spring is as easy for Him as to create a
flower, and He creates "O
man! The service you have offered and the worship you
have performed are not for nothing. A realm of reward, an
abode of bliss, has been prepared for you. An unending "Since
we see through observation that every year on the face of
the earth He gathers together and disperses with perfect
order and balance, with perfect timing and ease, more
than three hundred thousand species and groups of animals
and plants, most certainly such an All-Powerful One of
Glory is capable of carrying out His promise. And being
thus Absolutely Powerful He creates samples of the
resurrection and "And
since, promising eternal bliss through all His revealed
Books, He gives the glad tidings of Paradise; and since
all His actions and deeds are carried out with truth,
veracity, and seriousness; and since, through the
testimony of all His works of art, all perfections point
to and testify to His infinite perfection, there being in
absolutely no respect any defect or fault in Him; and
since the breaking of a promise, lying, falsehood, and
deception are the ugliest of qualities, besides being
defects and faults; then most decidedly and most
certainly will that All-Powerful One of Glory, that
All-Wise One of Perfection, that All-Mercifu'l'Dne of
Beauty, carry out His promise: He will open the gate to
eternal bliss; He will admit you, O people of faith, to
Paradise, which was the original home of your forefather
Adam." ELEVENTH
PHRASE: 'And with Him all things have their end.' That
is, human beings are sent to this world, which is the
realm of trial and examination, with the important duties
of trading and acting as officials. After they have
concluded their trading, accomplished their duties, and
completed their service, they will return and meet once
more with their Generous Master and Glorious Creator Who
sent them forth in the first place. Leaving this
transient realm, they will be honoured and elevated to
the presence of grandeur in the realm of permanence.
That is to say, being delivered from the turbulence of
causes and from the obscure veils of intermediaries, they
will meet with their Merciful Sustainer without veil at
the seat of His eternal majesty. Everyone will find his
Creator, True Object of Worship, Sustainer, Lord, and
Owner and will know Him directly. Thus, this phrase
proclaims the following joyful news, which is greater
than all the rest: "O
mankind! Do you know where you are going and to where you
are being impelled? As is stated at the end of the
Thirty-Second Word, a thousand years of happy life in
this world cannot be compared to one hour of life in "The
loveliness and beauty in all the creatures of this world
and in those metaphorical beloveds by which you are so
stricken and obsessed and for which you are so desirous,
are but a sort of shadow of the manifestation of His
beauty and of the loveliness of His Names; and all
Paradise with all of its subtle wonders, a single
manifestation of His mercy; and all longing and love and
allurement and captivation, but a flash of the love of
the Eternal Worshipful One and Everlasting Beloved. And
you are going to the sphere of His presence. You are
being summoned to The
phrase announces this good news as well: "O mankind!
Do not be apprehensive imagining that you are going to
extinction, non-existence, nothingness, darkness,
oblivion, decay, and dissolution, and that you will
drown in multiplicity. You are going not to extinction,
but to permanence. You are being impelled not to
non-existence, but to perpetual existence. You are going
to enter not darkness, but the world of light. And you
are returning to your true owner, to the seat of the
Pre-Eternal Monarch. You will not drown in
multiplicity, you will take your rest in the sphere of
Unity. You are bound not for separation, but for
union."
SECOND
STATION Reflections
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