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From the Risale-i Nur Collection
LIGHTS OF REALITY
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi
Contents Who
was Bediuzzaman Said Nursi and
what is the Risale-i Nur?........................ 7 About
Compassion........................................ 13 Transforming
Transience into Immortality..... 17 The
Highway of the Practices of
the Prophet (PBUH).............................. 26 Happy
News for Believers............................. 33 A
Letter about the Risale-i Nur and its Way... 48 A
Most Beneficial Light for the
People of the Present............................. 52 The
Nine Allusions, About Sufism ................ 56 A
Short, The
Companions' Sainthood......................... 96 The
Legacy of Prophethood and
Unity of Existence............................. 101 "In
Everything is a Sign that He is One" ... 115 The
Need for the Renewal of Faith............... 119 About
Sainthood......................................... 125 Principles
for Bediuzzaman's Visitors.......... 129 Announcing
"the Wares ojaQur'anic Shop" 133 About
the Companions ............................... 144 A
Rule.......................................................
150 The
Degrees of Belief................................... 153 For
the People of Reality............................. 158 The
Risale-i Nur Saves Belief....................... 159 Bediuzzaman's
Exemplary Frugality ......... 161 The
Eighth Letter About
Compassion In
His Name! And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with
praise.
here
are numerous instances of wisdom in the Names of Most
Merciful and Compassionate being included in "In
the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate"
and at the start of all good things. Postponing the
explanation of these to another time, I shall for now
recount a feeling of mine: My
brother, to me the names of Merciful and Compassionate
appear as a light so vast it embraces the whole universe
and satisfies all the eternal needs of all spirits, and
so luminous and powerful it secures a person against all
his innumerable enemies. The most important means I
have found for attaining to these names, these two vast
lights, are poverty and thanks, impotence and compassion.
That
is, worship and realizing one's neediness. What comes to
mind in connection with this and I say contrary to the
great mystics and religious scholars, and even to
Imam-i Rabbani,1 one of my masters, is this:
the intense and brilliant emotion the Prophet Jacob (Upon
whom be peace) felt for Joseph (Upon whom be peace) was
not love or passion, but compassion. For compassion is
much sharper and more brilliant and elevated than
passionate love, and purer and more worthy of the rank
of prophethood. Intense love and passion for worldly (inecazî)
beloveds and creatures are not fitting for the elevated
rank of prophethood. This means Jacob's feelings, which
the All-Wise Qur'an describes with brilliant eloquence,
and were a way of attaining to the name of
AU-Compassionate, were a high degree of compassion. As
for passionate love, a way of attaining to the name of
All-Loving, that looks more to Zulaikha's love for Joseph
(Upon whom be peace). That is to say, however much higher
the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition shows Jacob's (Upon
whom be peace) emotions to be than Zulaikha's, compassion
is higher than passionate love to the same degree. My
master, Imam-i Rabbani,1 did not consider
worldly (mecazT) love to be altogether fitting for the
rank of prophethood and therefore said: "Joseph's
virtues pertained to the hereafter, so love for him was
not of a worldly kind that it should have been
defective." But I say: "Master! That is an
artificial interpretation, the truth of the matter must
be this: that was not love, but a degree of compassion a
hundred times more brilliant, more extensive, and more
elevated than love." Yes, in all its varieties,
compassion is subtle and pure, while many sorts of love
and passion may not be condescended to. Furthermore,
compassion is extremely broad. Because of the compassion
a person feels for his child, he may well feel compassion
for all young and all living beings even, and act as a
sort of mirror to the comprehensive name of
All-Compassionate. Whereas passionate love restricts its
gaze to its beloved and sacrifices everything for it. Or
else while elevating and praising its beloved, it
denigrates others and in effect insults them and abuses
their honour. For example, someone said: "The sun
espied my beloved's beauty and was embarrassed. Not to
see it, it veiled itself in cloud." Lover, fine sir!
What right do you have to impute shame to the sun, which
is a light-filled page of eight Greatest Names? Moreover,
compassion is sincere and wants nothing in return; it
is pure and seeks no recompense. The self-sacrificing,
unselfish tenderness of animals towards their young is
evidence for this at the lowest level. Passionate love,
however, desires remuneration and seeks return. The
weepings of passionate love are a sort of demanding, a
desiring remuneration. Thus,
Jacob's (Upon whom be peace) compassion, the most
brilliant light of Sura Yusuf- the most brilliant of the
Qur'an's suras - points to the names of Merciful and
Compassionate. It informs us that the way of compassion
is the way of mercy. And as a salve for the pain of
compassion, it causes a person to utter: For
God is the Best of Protectors and He is the Most Merciful
of the Merciful.2
The
Eternal One, He is the Eternal One, Said Nurs i
The
Third Flash Transforming
Transience into Immortality [Emotion
and spiritual insight {zevk) have become mixed in this
Flash to an extent, and since their exuberance does not
much heed the principles of the intellect and the scales
of thought nor conform to them, it should not be weighed
up on the balance of logic] In
the Name of God, the Mercifid, the Compassionate. Everything
shall perish save His countenance; His is the command,
and to Him shall you return.1
he
two phrases, "The Eternal One (al-Baqi), He is the
Eternal One! * The Eternal One, He is the Eternal
One!" express the meaning of the above verse, and
they state two important truths. It is because of this
that some of the leading members of the Naqshbandi Order
made themselves
a
special invocation with the repetition of them, a sort of
concise Naqshi litany. Seeing that the two phrases
express the verse's meaning, I shall explain a few points
about the significant truth they state. FIRST
POINT The
first time "The Eternal One, He is the Eternal
One!" is recited, like a surgical operation it
severs and isolates the heart from everything other
than God. It is as follows: By
virtue of his comprehensive nature, man is connected with
virtually all beings. Also included in his nature is a
boundless capacity to love. For these reasons he nurtures
love towards all beings. He both loves the vast world as
though it were his house, and he loves eternal The
fault in suffering such torment is his, for he was given
a heart with an infinite capacity to love in order to
direct it toward One possessing infinite undying beauty.
By misusing it and spending it on transitory beings, he
has done wrong and suffers the punishment for his fault
due to the pain of separation. Thus,
the first time he utters: "The Eternal One.' He is
the Eternal One!", it severs his attachment to
transitory beings; he leaves those objects of love before
they leave him and he is thus cleared of his fault. The
phrase declares that love is restricted to the Eternal
Beloved, and expresses this meaning: "You are the
only Truly Enduring Being! Everything other than You is
transient. My heart cannot become attached to anything
transient, for it was created for everlasting love, to
feel ardour from pre-eternity to post-eternity. Since
those innumerable beloveds are transitory and they leave
me and depart, I declare, 'The Eternal One, You are the
Eternal One!" and leave them before they leave me.
Only You are immortal, and I know and believe that beings
can only be immortal by Your making them so. In which
case, they should be loved with Your love. They are not
otherwise worthy of the heart's attachment." When
in this state, the heart gives up innumerable things it
loves; seeing that their beauty is stamped with
transitoriness, it severs its attachment to them.
Otherwise it will suffer wounds to the number of its
beloveds. The second "The Eternal One, He is the
Eternal One!" is both a salve and an antidote for
those wounds. That is, "O You who is Eternal! Since
You are thus, it is enough for me. You take the place of
everything. Since You exist, everything exists." Yes,
the beauty, bounty, and perfection in beings which excite
love, are generally signs of the Truly Enduring One's
beauty and bounty and perfections, and passing through
many veils, are pale shadows of them. Indeed, they are
shadows of the shadows of the manifestations of His Most
Beautiful Names. SECOND
POINT Included
in human nature is an intense love of immortality. Even,
because of his power of imagination, man fancies a sort
of immortality in everything he loves. Whenever he thinks
of or sees their passing, he cries out from the depths
of his being. All lamentations at separation are
interpretations of the weeping caused by love of
immortality. If there were no imagined immortality, there
would be no love. It might even be said that a reason for
the existence of the eternal realm and everlasting Is
it at all possible that the Munificent and
Compassionate Creator would accept the insignificant
wish of a tiny stomach and its supplication through the
tongue of disposition for a temporary immortality by
creating innumerable delicious foods, and not accept the
intense desire of all humankind, which arises from an
overpowering innate need, and its universal, constant,
rightful, just prayer for immortality, offered through
word and state? God forbid, a hundred thousand times! It
is impossible that He would not accept it. Not to accept
it would be in keeping with neither his wisdom, nor His
justice, nor His mercy, nor His power. Since
man is most desirous of immortality, all his perfections
and pleasures are dependent on it. And since immortality
is particular to the Eternal One of Glory; and since the
Eternal One's names are eternal; and since the Eternal
One's mirrors take on His hue, and reflect His decree,
and manifest a sort of immortality; for sure the matter
most important for man, his most pressing duty, is to
form a relation with that Eternal One and to adhere to
His names. For everything expended on the way of the
Eternal One receives a sort of immortality. The second "the
Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!" expresses this
truth. In addition to healing man's innumerable
spiritual wounds, it satisfies the intense wish for
immortality inherent in his nature. THIRD
POINT In
this world, the effects of time on things, and on their
transience and passing, differ greatly. Also, although
beings are one within the other like concentric
circles, they all differ as regards the speed of their
passing. Just
as the hands of a clock counting the seconds, and those
counting the minutes, hours, and days superficially
resemble each other, but differ in respect to speed, so
too the spheres of the body, soul, heart, and spirit in
man differ from one another. For example, the body
possesses an immortality, a life, and an existence in
the present day, and even in the present hour while its
past and future are dead and non-existent, yet the sphere
of the heart's existence and life extends from many days
previous to the present day and to many days in the
future. Then the sphere of the spirit is vast; the sphere
of its life and existence extends from years previous to
the present day to years subsequent to it. By
virtue of this capacity, in respect of knowledge, love,
and worship of God the Sustainer, and the pleasure of
that Most Merciful One, from which spring the life of the
heart and spirit, transient life in this world contains
within it a perpetual life, and results in eternal life,
and resembles everlasting life. Yes,
one second seeking the love, knowledge, and pleasure of
the Truly Eternal One is like a year. While a year not
spent on His way, is a second. A single second, even, on
His way becomes immortal and the equivalent of many
years. But for the people of neglect, a hundred years
looking to this world are like a single second. There is
a famous saying: "A moment's separation lasts a
year, and a year's union passes in an instant." I
say the complete opposite to this: a moment's union for
God's sake within the bounds of the Eternal One of
Glory's pleasure is a window of union, not of only a
year; it is a permanent window. While hot one year, but
perhaps a thousand spent in heedlessness and misguidance
pass in an instant. There is a saying more famous than
the previous one that corroborates this: "The broad
earth with enemies resembles a cup, while the eye of a
needle with friends is a broad arena." A
correct meaning of the first saying above is this: since,
however long it is, union with transitory beings is
transient, it seems brief. A year of such union passes in
a second; it is an illusion, a dream, causing regret and
sorrow. The human heart can only receive from it the
tiniest pleasure within a fraction of a second, since it
desires immortality. And one moment's separation seems
like not one year, but many. For the arena of separation
is broad. Even if only for a second, it inflicts years of
destruction on the heart, which yearns for eternity. It
bodes of innumerable separations. For physical and lowly
loves, the past and future are filled with separations. While
oh the subject, we say this: O man! Don't you want to
make your brief, futile life immortal, beneficial, and
fruitful? Since humanity demands this, spend your life on
the way of the Truly Eternal One. For everything turned
to Him receives the manifestation of immortality. Since
everyone fervently desires long life and yearns for
immortality; and since there is a way of transforming
this fleeting life into perpetual life and it is possible
to make it lengthy; for sure everyone who has not lost
his humanity will seek out that way and try to convert
the possibility into reality and will act accordingly.
Yes, the way is this: work for God's sake, meet with
others for God's sake, labour for God's sake; act within
the sphere of "For God, for God's sake, on account
of God." Then all the moments of your life will
become years. Alluding
to this truth, verses of the Qur'an indicate that a
single night such as the Night of Power is like a
thousand months, that is, around eighty years. The
expansion of time, a tried principle among the people of
sainthood and reality, also alludes to it. Through this
mystery, a few minutes' Ascension become like many years
and prove the existence of this truth and demonstrate it
in fact. The Ascension of the Prophet (PBUH), which
lasted a few hours, had the length, breadth, and
comprehensiveness of thousands of years, for by way of it
he entered the world of eternity, and a few minutes of
that world comprise thousands of years of this. Besides
this are the numerous instances of the expansion of time
experienced by the saints, constructed on this truth.
It is related that some of them did a day's work in a
single minute, and others performed a year's duties in
an hour, or recited the whole Qur'an in the space of a
minute. Such veracious people of truth would never
knowingly stoop to lying. There can be no doubt that they
experienced this fact of the expansion of time,2
which is thus numerously and unanimously reported.
One
sort of it is experienced in dreams and is confirmed by
everyone. Sometimes a day of the waking world, or many
days, would be needed to experience all the happenings,
words, pleasures, and pains experienced in a
minute-long dream. In
Short: For sure man is transitory, but he was created for
immortality and to be a mirror to the Eternal One. He is
charged with duties which produce enduring fruits, and
is given a form whereby he manifests the impresses of an
Eternal One's eternal names. In which case, man's true
duty and happiness lie in clinging with all his powers
and faculties to the names of that Eternally Enduring One
within the bounds of those things that please Him; it is
to be turned towards Him, and to go to Him. As man's
tongue utters "the Eternal One, You are the Eternal
One!" so his heart, spirit, mind, and all his subtle
faculties should declare: "He
is the Eternal One! He is Pre-Eternal and Post-Eternal!
He is the Everlasting, the Perpetual One! He is the One
who is Sought, Beloved, Wished For, and Worshipped!" Glory
be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You
have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise!3
O
our Sustainer! Do not take us to task if we forget or
do wrong.4
from
The Fourth Flash The
Highway of the Practices of the Prophet (PBUH) [Although
the Imamate question is a matter of secondary
importance, in consequence of the excessive attention
paid it it was as though included among the matters of
belief and was dealt with by the sciences of theology (kalâm)
and the principles of religion. Here, it is in part
discussed because of this, and also because of its
relevance to our basic duties towards the Qur'an and
belief.] In
the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Now
has come a prophet from among yourselves; it heavily
weighs upon him that you might suffer; fidl of concern is
he for you, and fidl of compassion and mercy towards
the believers. * But if they turn away, say: God is
enough for me, there is no god but He. In Him have I
placed my trust, for He is the Sustainer of the Mighty
Throne.1 *
Say:
I ask no recompense of you save love of close kin.2 We
shall point out in two stations two of the many vast
truths contained in these glorious verses. First
Station The
First Station consists of four points. FIRST POINT
his
describes the perfect compassion and mercy towards his
community of God's Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings
be upon him).'According to sound narrations, when at the
terror of the resurrection everyone, even the prophets,
will cry out for themselves, God's Noble Messenger will
demonstrate his compassion by calling out: "My
community! My community!"3 So too, as is
affirmed by those who disclose the realities, when he was
born, his mother heard among his supplications the
words: "My community! My community!" Then the
whole story of his life, as well as the kindly conduct
which he propagated demonstrate his perfect benevolence
and clemency. Also, by evincing an infinite need for
the innumerable prayers of his community he showed a
boundless compassion, for he showed that out of his
perfect compassion he was concerned with the happiness of
all of them. So you can understand how lacking in
gratitude and conscience it is not to observe the
practices (Sunna) of so kind and compassionate a leader. SECOND
POINT While
performing the universal, general duties of his
prophethood (niibiivvet), God's Noble Messenger (Peace
and blessings be upon him) showed great kindness in
particular, minor matters. Superficially, his doing this
appears incompatible with the supreme importance of
prophethood and its functions. But in reality, such
minor matters were the tips or samples of a chain which
would be a means of fulfilling a universal and general
function of prophethood. Therefore the greatest
importance was given to the sample for the sake of the
mighty chain. For
example, the extraordinary gentleness God's Noble
Messenger (PBUH) showed towards Hasan and Husayn in their
childhood, and the great importance he gave them, was
not only out of love, natural kindness and family
feeling; it was rather because they were each the tip of
a luminous thread of the function of prophethood, and the
source, sample, and index of a community of great
consequence that would receive the legacy of prophethood. Yes,
the Messenger (PBUH) used to take Hasan (May God be
pleased with him) tenderly into his arms and kiss his
head for the sake of the luminous, blessed, Mahdi-like
descendants who would spring from him, such as Shah
Geylani, the Ghawth al-A'zam,4 who would be
the inheritors of prophethood and would bear the sacred
Shari'a of Muhammad. He saw with the eye of prophethood
the sacred service and duty they would perform in the
future, and approved and applauded them. He kissed
Hasan's head as a sign of approval and encouragement. Also,
he embraced Husayn tenderly and accorded him importance
on account of the illustrious Imams like Zayn al-'Abidin
and Ja'far al-Sadiq, and the numerous Mahdi-like luminous
persons, the true inheritors of prophethood, who would
spring from his effulgent line, and for the sake of the
religion of Islam and functions of prophethood.
Since
with his heart with its knowledge of the Unseen, the
Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) luminous vision and
future-penetrating eye observed from the Era of Bliss in
this world the Assembly of the Resurrection on the side
of post-eternity, and from the earth saw Paradise, and
watched events which had occurred since the time of Adam
and were concealed in the dark veils of the past, and
even beheld the vision of the All-Glorious One, he surely
saw the spiritual poles and the Imams who were to be the
inheritors of prophethood, and the Mahdis, who would
follow on in the lines of Hasan and Husayn. And for sure
he would kiss their heads in the name of all of them.
Yes, Shah Geylani has a large part in his kissing Hasan's
head. THIRD
POINT According
to one interpretation, the verse: Say:
I ask of you no recompense save love of close kin5 means
that "God's Noble Messenger (PBUH) wants no reward
for carrying out the duty of messenger-ship; he wants
only love for his family." If
it is asked: From this, it seems that advantages were
gained from the family relationship, whereas according to
the meaning of: The
most honoured of you in the sight of God is the most
righteous of you,6 prophethood
functions in regard to nearness to God, not in regard to
family relationships?
The
Answer: With his vision that penetrated the Unseen, God's
Most Noble Messenger (PBUH) saw that his Family would be
a light-giving tree in the world of Islam. The
overwhelming majority of the persons who would perform
the duty of guides instructing every level of the world
of Islam in human attainment and perfection would emerge
from his Family. He divined that his community's prayer
for his Family in the final section of the prescribed
prayers: "O God, grant blessings to our master
Muhammad and to the Family of our master Muhammad, as You
granted blessings to Abraham and to the Family of
Abraham; indeed. You are Worthy of Praise, Most
Exalted" would be accepted. That is to say, just as
the vast majority of the luminous guides of the people
of Abraham were prophets from his family and line, so he
saw in his community the spiritual poles of his Family
performing the momentous duties of Islam, and in most of
the paths and Sufi orders, like the prophets of Israel.
Therefore, being commanded to say: "Say: I ask of
you no recompense save love of close kin," he wanted
his community to love his Family.
There
are numerous narrations corroborating this fact. He
repeatedly decreed: "/ leave you two things. If you
adhere to them, you will find salvation: one is God's
Book, the other is my Family."7 For
members of his family were the sources and guardians of
his practices, and were charged with complying with them
in every respect. This is why the Hadith was inspired
intending adherence to the Book and his (PBUH) practices.
That is to say, what was required from the Prophet's
Family in respect of the function of messengership were
the Prophet's practices. Just as someone who abandoned
his practices could not truly be a member of his Family,
so he could not be a true friend to them. Another
reason he desired his community to rally round his Family
was that, with God's permission, he knew it was going to
become very numerous with the passing of time, and that
Islam was going to become weak. Therefore, an extremely
strong and numerous mutually supportive group of people
was necessary so that it could be the mainspring and
centre of the spiritual and moral progress of the
Islamic world. With divine permission, he thought of
this, and desired that his community should gather round
his Family. Indeed,
even if the members of the Prophet's Family were not
greatly in advance of others in matters of belief and
faith, they were still greatly ahead of them in regard to
submission, partiality, and partisanship. For they were
followers of Islam by nature, birth, and temperament.
Even if natural partiality is weak and unworthy, or
unjustifiable even, it cannot be given up. Would it
therefore be possible for a person to give up his support
for a truth to which all his forefathers - who were most
strong, constant and true, and most illustrious - had
been bound, and through which they had won glory, and for
which they had sacrificed their lives, a truth he felt
clearly to be so fundamental and natural? Thus, due to
this intense partiality and natural submission, the
Prophet's Family accepted the least hint in favour of the
religion of Islam as though it were a powerful proof. For
they were partial by nature. Others become partial after
some powerful proof.
from
The Twentieth Letter Happy
News for Believers In
His Name, be He glorified! And there is nothing but it
glorifies Him with praise. In
the Name of God, the Mercifid, the Compassionate.
There
is no god but God, He is One, He has no partner; His is
the dominion and His is the praise; He alone grants life,
and deals death, and He is living and dies not; all good
is in His hand, He is powerful over all things, and with
Him all things have their end.1
[This
sentence expressing divine unity, which is recited
following the morning and evening prayers, possesses
numerous merits and according to an authentic narration,
bears the degree of the Greatest Name. It contains eleven
phrases, each of which contains both some good tidings,
and a degree in the affirmation of the unity of God's
dominicality, and an aspect of the grandeur and
perfection of divine unity from the point of view of a
Greatest Name. Referring a full explanation of these
great and elevated truths to other parts of the Risale-i
Nur, in fulfilment of a promise we shall for now write a
brief, index-like summary of them in two stations and an
introduction.] Introduction Be
certain of this, that the highest aim of creation and its
most important result is belief in God. The most exalted
rank in humanity and its highest degree is the knowledge
of God contained within belief in God. The most radiant
happiness and sweetest bounty for jinn and human beings
is the love of God contained within the knowledge of God.
And the purest joy for the human spirit and the sheerest
delight for man's heart is the rapture of the spirit
contained within the love of God. 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. The
person 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, miserable person owned the whole world,
it would be worth nothing for him, for it would seem to
him that he was living a fruitless life among the vagrant
human race in a wretched world without owner or
protector. Everyone may understand just how forlorn and
baffled is man among the aimless human race in this
bewildering fleeting world if he does not know his Owner,
if he does not discover his Master. But if he does
discover and know Him, he will seek refuge in His mercy
and will rely on His power. The desolate world will turn
into a place of recreation and pleasure, it will become a
place of trade for the hereafter. First
Station Each
of the eleven phrases of the above-mentioned sentence
affirming divine unity contains some good news. And in
the good news lies a cure, while in each of those cures a
spritual pleasure is to be found. FIRST
PHRASE: "There is no god but God" This
phrase contains the following good news for the human
spirit, subject as it is to countless needs and the
attacks of innumerable enemies. On the one hand it finds
a place of recourse, a source of help, through which is
opened to it the door of a treasury of mercy that will
guarantee all its needs. While on the other it finds a
support and source of strength, for the phrase makes
known its Creator and True Object of Worship, Who
possesses the absolute power to secure it from the evil
of all its enemies; it shows its master, and who it is
that owns it. Through pointing this out, the phrase saves
the heart from utter desolation and the spirit from
aching sorrow; it ensures an eternal joy, a perpetual
happiness. SECOND
PHRASE: "He is One" This
phrase announces the following good news, which is both
healing and a source of happiness: Man's
spirit and heart, which are connected to most of the
creatures in the universe and reach the point of being
overwhelmed in misery and confusion on account of this
connection, find in the phrase "He is One" a
refuge and protector that will deliver them from all the
confusion and bewilderment. That
is to say, it is as if "He is One" is saying to
man: "God is One. Do not wear yourself out having
recourse to other things; do not demean yourself and feel
indebted to them; do not flatter them and fawn on them
and humiliate yourself; do not follow them and make
things difficult for yourself; do not fear them and
tremble before them; because the Monarch of the universe
is One, the key to all things is with Him,
the reins of all things are in His hand, everything
will be resolved by His command. If you find Him, you
will be saved from endless indebtedness, countless
fears." 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 He has
no partner in His dominicality and in His actions and in
His creation. It sometimes happens that a monarch is
one, having no partner in his sovereignty, but in the
execution of his affairs his officials act as his
partners; they prevent everyone from entering his
presence, saying: "Have recourse to us." However,
God Almighty, the Monarch of Pre-Eternity and
Post-Eternity, has no partner in His sovereignty, just
as He has no need for partners or helpers in the
execution of His dominicality. If it were not for His
command and will, His strength and power, not a single
thing could interfere with another. Everyone can have
recourse to Him directly. Since He has no partner or
helper, it may not be said to someone seeking recourse,
"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 the
things that you must. In which case, do not suffer pain
and torment without reason, the ownership is another's.
The Owner is both All-Powerful and All-Merciful; rely on
His power and do not cast aspersions on His mercy! Put
grief behind you, be joyful! Discard your troubles and
find serenity!" It
also says: "The universe, which you love, to which
you are connected yet grieves you by its con-fusedness,
but which you are unable to put right, is the property of
One Ail-Powerful and Merciful. 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;' understand this thoroughly and don't
interfere!" FIFTH
PHRASE: "His is the praise" Praise,
laudation, and acclaim are proper to Him, are fitting for
Him. That is to say, bounties are His; they come from His
treasury. And as for the treasury, it is unending. This
phrase, therefore, delivers the following good news: "O
mankind! Do not suffer and sorrow when bounties cease,
for the treasury of mercy is inexhaustible. Do not
dwell on the fleeting nature of pleasure and cry out with
pain, because the fruit of the bounty is the fruit of a
boundless mercy. Since its tree is undying, when the
fruit finishes it is replaced by more. If you thankfully
think of there being within the pleasure of the bounty
itself a merciful favour a hundred times more
pleasurable, you will increase the pleasure a
hundredfold. "The
apple an august monarch presents to you yields 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" The
giver of life is He. And it is He who causes life to
continue by means of sustenance is again He. It is also
He who supplies the necessities of life. And it is to Him
that the exalted aims of life pertain, and to Him that
its important results look, and His are ninety-nine out
of a hundred of its fruits. Thus, this phrase calls out
to ephemeral, 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" 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 destruction, or
nothingness, or annihilation; it is not cessation, or
extinction; it is not eternal separation, or
non-existence, or a chance event; it is not authorless
obliteration. Rather, it is to be discharged by the
Author who is All-Wise and All-Compassionate; it is a
change of abode. It is to be despatched to eternal bliss,
to your true home. It is the door of union to the
Intermediate Realm, which is where you will meet with
ninety-nine per cent of your friends." EIGHTH
PHRASE: "And He is living and dies not" The
Possessor of a beauty, perfection, and munificence that
are infinitely superior to the beauty, perfection, and
munificence to be seen in the creatures of the universe,
and that arouse love, and an Eternal Object of Worship,
an Everlasting Beloved, 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 countless separations from the ones you love.
Since He exists and is undying, whatever happens do not
fret over the others. Furthermore, the beauty and
generosity, virtue and perfection in them, which are the
cause of your love, are, passing through many veils, the
shadows of the palest of shadows of the manifestation of
the Ever-Enduring Beloved's ever-enduring Beauty. Do not
grieve at their disappearance, for they are mirrors of a
sort. The changing of the mirrors renews and embellishes
the manifestation of the Beauty's radiance. Since He
exists, everything exists." NINTH
PHRASE: "All good is in His hand" Every
good action you perform is transferred to His register.
Every righteous deed you do is recorded with Him. Thus,
this phrase calls out to jinn and mankind with the
following good news: "O
you wretched ones! When you journey to the grave do not
cry out in despair, 'Alas! Everything we owned is
destroyed, all our efforts wasted; we have left the
beautiful broad earth and entered the narrow grave,' for
everything of yours is preserved, all your actions
written down, every service you have rendered recorded.
One of Glory in Whose hand is all good and Who is able to
bring all good to fruition, will reward your service:
drawing you to Himself, He will keep you only temporarily
under the ground. Later, He will bring you to His
presence. What happiness for those of you who have
completed their service and duty; your labour is
finished, you are going to ease and mercy! Service and
toil are over, you are going to receive your wage! "Indeed,
the Ail-Powerful One of Glory preserves seeds and grains,
which are the pages of the register of last spring's
deeds and the deposit-boxes of its services, and
publishes them the following spring in glittering
fashion, indeed, in a manner a hundred times more
plentiful than the originals. The results of your life He
is preserving in the same way, and will reward your
service in a truly abundant fashion." 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 He
creates the spring. The innumerable artefacts which He
continuously creates every day, every year, every
century, witness with numberless tongues to His boundless
power. Thus, this phrase too delivers good news: "O
man! The service you have offered and the worship you
have performed are not for nothing. A realm of reward, an
abode of bliss, has been prepared for you. An unending "We
observe every year on the face of the earth that He
gathers together and disperses with perfect order and
balance, with perfect timing and ease, more than three
hundred thousand species and groups of animals and
plants. Most certainly such an All-Powerful One of Glory
is capable of carrying out His promise. "And
since being thus Absolutely Powerful He creates samples
of the resurrection and Paradise in thousands of forms
every year; and since, promising eternal bliss through
all His revealed 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 that All-Powerful One of
Glory, that All-Wise One of Perfection, that All-Merciful
One 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, 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 worldly beloveds by which you are so
stricken and obsessed and for which you are so desirous,
are but a sort of shadow of the manifestation of His
beauty and of the loveliness of His names; and all
Paradise with all of its subtle wonders, a single
manifestation of His mercy; and all longing and love and
allurement and captivation, but a flash of the love of
the Eternal Worshipful One and Everlasting Beloved. You
are going to the sphere of His presence. You are being
summoned to 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."
A
Letter about the Risale-i Nur and its Way In
His Name, be He glorified! Peace
be upon you and God's mercy and blessings, for ever and
ever!
My
Dear, Loyal Brothers! It
occurred to me that I should explain four
matters to you.
The
First: This is the answer to a question that has been
asked both explicitly and implicitly and in other ways.
It is asked: "Why is it that although the Risale-i
Nur is both the source of miraculous blessings, and
promotes the unfolding of the truths of belief rather
advancement in the Sufi ways, and its faithful students
are in some respects at the level of sainthood (veldyet),
why don't they experience the spiritual
"tasting" and illuminations of the saints or
manifest physical wonders? Also, why don't its students
seek such things? The
Answer: Firstly: The reason for this is the mystery of
sincerity. For with people who have
not
entirely conquered their instinctual souls, temporary
illuminations and wonder-working in this world become a
goal for them and a reason for their actions that look to
the hereafter; sincerity is spoiled. For worldly aims and
pleasures should not be sought through actions that
pertain to the hereafter. If they are sought, it spoils
the mystery of sincerity. Secondly:
Wonders and illuminations are for strengthening some weak
people who embark on the spiritual journeying of the Sufi
way but whose belief is merely imitative (taldidi) and
ordinary, and not certain and confirmatory (tahkilci), and
to persuade people suffering from doubts and scruples.
However, the arguments for the truths of belief offered
by the Risale-i Nur in no way permit doubts and leave no
need for wonder-working and illuminations to induce
certainty. The certain, confirmatory belief that it
imparts is so superior to illuminations, direct visions,
and wonders, that its true students do not seek such
things. Thirdly:
One principle of the Risale-i Nur is to know one's own
faults, and with self-abnegation to serve seeking God's
pleasure alone, and not competitively. However, the
conflict and rivalry between miracle-workers and between
the followers of the Sufi orders who indulge in
illuminations and visions, and at this egotistical time,
those blessed persons being thought ill of by the people
of neglect and accused of egotism and selfishness shows
that it is absolutely essential that the Risale-i Nur students
do not seek wonders and visions for themselves, nor run
after them. Furthermore,
on the Risale-i Nur's way importance is not given to
persons. By virtue of its spiritual partnership and
renunciation of self before the brothers, such divine
benefactions as its thousands of wondrous instances of
knowledge, and the facility encountered in work
connected with its dissemination, and the plenty in the
livelihoods of those who serve it, are sufficient for
everyone; they do not seek perfections and wonders apart
from these. Fourthly:
Because it is transient, the garden of the face of the
world is not equal to a single everlasting tree of the
hereafter. The human emotions, however, being captivated
by immediate pleasure, prefer one present, fleeting fruit
to an eternal garden of the hereafter. Because of this,
so that- the evil-commanding soul should not take
advantage of this natural state, the Risale-i Nur students
do not seek spiritual pleasures and illuminations in this
world. In
olden times, there was a person and his wife -both of
high spiritual rank yet of very scant means -who
resembled the Risale-i Nur students in this respect. One
day, the man's wife reminded him of their extreme need.
Suddenly a golden brick appeared before them. He told his
wife: "Look! Here's a brick from our mansion in
there
will be missing one. Say a prayer that it will return
whence it came. We can do without it!" The brick
suddenly disappeared. It is said that later in their
visions they saw it that had returned to its place. Thus,
these two heroic people of reality (ehl-i hakikat) furnish
a fine example for the Risale-i Nur students in that they
did not rush to enjoy the wondrous mystical experiences
of this world.
The
Fifth Letter A
Most Beneficial Light for People of the Present In
His Name, be He glorified! And there is nothing but it
glorifies Him with praise. n
his Letters (Maktûbât), Imam-i Rabbani1 (May
God be pleased with him), a sun of the Naqshbandi Order2
and its hero, said: "For me, the disclosure of a
single matter of the truths of faith is preferable to
thousands of illuminations, ecstasies, and instances of
wonder-working." He
also said: "The final point of all the Sufi ways is
the clarification and unfolding of the truths of
faith."
He
also said: "There are three sorts of sainthood
(veldyet):
one is the lesser sainthood, which is the well-known
sainthood. The others are the middle sainthood and the
greater sainthood. Greater sainthood is to open up by
way of the legacy of prophet-hood (verdset-i niibiivvet) a
direct way to reality without entering the intermediate
realm of Sufism." He
said also: "The Naqshi way is traversed with two
wings." That is, "By having firm belief in the
truths of faith, and by carrying out the religious
obligations. The way cannot be covered if either of
these two wings is defective." In which case, the
Naqshi way consists of three veils: The
First and most important is to serve the truths of faith
directly; Imam-i Rabbani travelled this way in his later
years. The
Second is to [advance the cause of] the religious
obligations and serve the glorious practices (Sunna) of
the Prophet (PBUH) under the veil of the Sufi way. The
Third is to strive to eliminate the sicknesses of the
heart by way of Sufism and to journey with the feet of
the heart. Of
these, the first is the equivalent of obligatory, the
second, close to obligatory, and the third, Sunna.
Since
the reality of the matter is thus, my conjecture is
that if such persons as Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir Gilani3
(May God be pleased with him) and Shah Naqshband4
(May God be pleased with him) and Imam-i Rabbani (May God
be pleased with him) were alive today, they would expend
all their efforts on strengthening the truths of faith
and tenets of Islam. For it is through them that eternal
happiness is won. Any deficiency in them results in
eternal misery. A person without faith will not enter Thus,
people who have studied the thirty-three Words closely
state that they have opened up just such a Qur'anic way.
Since this is a fact, I am of the opinion that the Words so
far written about the mysteries of the Qur'an are a
most appropriate medicine and salve for the wounds of
this time, and a most beneficial light for Islam as a
whole, which has been subject to the assaults of
darkness, and a most right guide for those wandering
bewildered in the valleys of misguidance.
You
know that if misguidance arises from ignor
ance,
it is easy to dispel. Whereas if it results from science
and learning, it is difficult to eliminate. In former
times, only one person in a thousand was in the latter
category, and only one in a thousand such people would be
reformed through guidance. For such people fancy
themselves. They do not know, but they think they do
know. I think that Almighty God has bestowed the Words at
this time, which are flashes of the Qur'an's
miraculousness, as an antidote to this atheistic
misguidance. The
Eternal One, He is the Eternal One! Said N urs i
from
The Twenty-Ninth Letter The Nine Allusions About
Sufism [This
section is about the paths of sainthood (turuk-u
veldyet), and consists of nine Allusions.] In
the Name of God, the Mercifid, the Compassionate. Behold!
Verily on the friends of God there is no fear, nor sliall
they grieve) FIRST
ALLUSION
nderlying
the terms Sufism, path, sainthood, and spiritual
journeying is an agreeable, luminous, joyful, and
spiritual sacred truth. This truth has been proclaimed,
taught, and described in thousands of books written by
authoritative scholars (muliakkikin) among the people
of illumination (zevk) and unveiling (kesf), who have
told the Muslim community and us about it. May God reward
them abundantly! Now, because of l.Qur'ân,
10:62.
some
compelling circumstances at this time, we shall point out
a few droplets, like sprinklings, from that vast ocean. Question?
What is the Sufi path? The
Answer: The aim and goal of the Sufi path is - knowledge
of God and the unfolding of the truths of faith - through
a spiritual journeying with the feet of the heart under
the shadow of the Ascension of Muhammad (PBUH), to
manifest the truths of faith and the Qur'an through
'tasting' (zevkt) and certain enhanced states (lialt), and
to an extent through direct vision (§uhudi); it is an
elevated human mystery and perfection called the Sufi
path orSufism. Yes,
since man is a comprehensive index of the universe, his
heart resembles a map of thousands of worlds. For
innumerable human sciences and fields of knowledge show
that man's brain in his head is a sort of centre of the
universe, like a telephone and telegraph exchange for
innumerable lines. Similarly, the millions of
light-scattering books written by incalculable saints
show man's heart in his essential being to be the place
of manifestation of innumerable cosmic truths, and to
be their pivot, and seed. Since
the human heart and brain are thus central, and comprise
the members of a mighty tree in the form of a seed, and
within them are encapsulated the parts and components of
an eternal, majestic machine pertaining to the hereafter,
certainly the heart's Creator willed that it should be
worked and brought out from the potential to the actual,
and developed, and put into action, for that is what He
did. Since He willed it, the heart will certainly work
like the mind. And the most effective means of working it
is to be turned towards the truths of faith on the Sufi
path through the remembrance of God in the degrees of
sainthood. SECOND
ALLUSION The
keys and means of this journeying of the heart and
spiritual progress are remembrance of God and reflective
thought. Their virtues are too numerous to be
described. Apart from uncountable benefits in the
hereafter and human attainments and perfections, a
minor benefit pertaining to this tumultuous worldly life
is as follows: everyone wants a solace and seeks
enjoyment in order to be saved a little from the
upheavals of life and its heavy burdens, and to take a
breather; everyone searches out something friendly to
banish the loneliness. For one or two people out of
ten, the social gatherings in civilized life offer a
temporary, but heedless and drunken familiarity,
intimacy, and solace. But eighty per cent live solitary
live in mountains or valleys, or are driven to distant
places in search of a livelihood, or due to such agencies
as calamities or old age which recall the hereafter, they
are deprived of the companionship of human groups and
societies. Their circumstances allow them no familiarity,
friendliness, or consolation. For
such a person, true solace, intimacy, and sweet pleasure
are to be found in addressing his own heart in those
distant places and desolate mountains and distressing
valleys, in working it through remembrance of God and
reflection. Calling on God Almighty, he may become
intimate with Him in his heart, and by virtue of that
intimacy think of the things around him, which were
regarding him savagely, as smiling on him familiarly.
He will say: "My Creator, Whom I am recollecting,
has innumerable servants here in my place of solitude,
just as He has everywhere. I am not alone; loneliness has
no meaning." Thanks to his faith, he receives
pleasure from that sense of familiarity. He grasps the
meaning of life's happiness, and he offers thanks to
God. THIRD
ALLUSION Sainthood
is a proof of divine Messengership (risalet); the Sufi
path is a proof of the Shari'a. For the truths of belief
which Messengership preaches, sainthood sees and confirms
with a sort of direct vision with the heart and tasting
with the spirit at the degree of the vision of certainty (aynelyakiii).
Its confirmation is a certain proof of the veracity of
Messengership. Through the experiential knowledge of the
Sufi path and its unveilings, and through its benefits
and effulgences, it is a clear proof of the truths and
the matters which the Shari'a teaches; it demonstrates
that they are the truth and that they come from the
truth. Yes, just as sainthood and the Sufi
path are evidence and proof of Messengership and the
Shari'a, so they are a perfection of Islam and a means of
attaining to its lights, and through Islam, a source of
humanity's progress and moral enlightenment. Although
this vast mystery holds such importance, certain
deviant sects have tended to deny it. They have been
deprived of those lights, and they have caused others to
be deprived. The most regreta-ble thing is that making a
pretext of abuses and faults they have seen committed by
the followers of the Sufi path, some literalist Sunni
scholars and some neglectful politicians who are also
Sunnis are trying to close up that supreme treasury,
indeed, to destroy it, and to dry up that source of
Kawthar which distributes a sort of water of life.
However, there are few things and ways and paths that are
without fault and are good in every respect. They are
bound to contain some faults and abuses. For if the
uninitiated embark on something, they are sure to misuse
it. But as with the accounting of deeds in the hereafter,
Almighty God demonstrates His dominical justice through
the weighing up of good deeds and bad deeds. That is to
say, if good deeds preponderate and weigh heavier, He
accepts them and grants reward; whereas if evil deeds
preponderate, he punishes for them and rejects them.
The balancing of good and evil deeds looks to quality
rather than quantity. It sometimes happens that a single
good deed will weigh heavier than a thousand evils, and
cause them to be forgiven. Divine justice judges thus and
reality too considers it right. Thus, the evidence that
the good deeds of the Sufi path - that is, paths within
the bounds of the Prophet's (PBUH) practices - definitely
preponderate over their evils is that those who follow
them preserve their belief when attacked by the people of
misguidance. A sincere ordinary follower of the Sufi
path preserves himself better than a superficial,
apparent Muslim with a modern, scientific background.
Through the illumination of the Sufi path and the love of
the saints, he saves his belief. If he commits grievous
sins, he becomes a sinner, but not an unbeliever; he is
not easily drawn into atheism. No power at all can refute
the chain of shaykhs he accepts, with a strong love and
firm belief, to be spiritual poles. And because no power
can refute it, his confidence in them cannot be shaken.
And so long as his confidence is not shaken, he will
not accept atheism. In the face of the atheists'
stratagems at the present time, it has become difficult
for a person unconnected with the Sufi path, whose
heart has not been brought to action, to preserve himself
completely, even if he is a learned scholar. There
is another thing; the Sufi path should not be condemned
because of the evils of some orders that have adopted
practices outside the bounds of taqwa, and even of Islam,
and have wrongfully called themselves Sufi paths. Quite
apart from the elevated religious and spiritual fruits of
the Sufi path and those that look to the hereafter, Sufi
orders were the first, and most effective and ardent
means of spreading and strengthening brotherhood, the
sacred bond of the Islamic world. They were also one of
the three unassailable strongholds of Islam, which held
out against the awesome attacks of the world of unbelief
and the politics of Christendom. What preserved O
you unreasoning pseudo-patriots and false nationalists!
What evils are there in the Sufi paths that can negate
all this good in the life of your society? You say! FOURTH
ALLUSION Together
with being very easy, the way of sainthood is very
difficult. Together with being very short, it is very
long. In addition to being most valuable, it is very
dangerous. And together with being very broad, it is very
narrow. It is because of these points that some of those
who take the path drown, some become harmful, and some
return and lead others astray. In
Short: There are two ways on the Sufi path, known by the
terms of inner journeying and outer journeying. The
The
If
people who travel the first way are unsuccessful in
killing the evil-commanding soul, and if they cannot
give up the desires of the flesh and break the ego, they
fall from the rank of thanks to that of pride, then
descend from pride to conceit. If such a person feels the
captivation of love and becomes intoxicated by the
captivation, he will make highflown claims far
exceeding his mark, called ecstatic utterances (§atahat).
This is harmful both for himself and for others. For
example, if a lieutenant becomes conceited out of
pleasure at his position of command, he will suppose
himself to be a field marshal and will confuse his
small sphere with the universal one. He will confuse a
sun that appears in a small mirror with the sun whose
manifestation is seen in all its splendour on the surface
of the sea, due to their similarity in one respect. In
just the same way, there are many people of sainthood
who, resembling the difference between a fly and a
peacock, see themselves as greater than those who in
reality are greater than them to the same degree; that is
how they see it and they think they are right. I myself
even saw someone whose heart had just been awakened and
had faintly perceived in himself the mystery of
sainthood; he supposed himself to be the supreme
spiritual pole and assumed airs accordingly. I said to
him: "My brother, just as the law of sovereignty has
particular and universal manifestations from the office
of Prime Minister down to that of District Officer, so
sainthood and the rank of spiritual pole have varying
spheres and manifestations. Each station has many shades
and shadows. You have evidently seen the manifestation of
the rank of supreme spiritual pole, the equivalent of
Prime Minister, in your own sphere, which is like that of
a District Officer, and you have been deceived. What you
saw was right, but your judgement of it was wrong. To a
fly, a cup of water is a small sea." The person came
to his senses, God willing, as a result of this answer of
mine, and was saved from the abyss. I
have also seen many people who thought themselves to be
a sort of Mahdi, and they proclaimed their Mahdiship.
Such people are not liars and deceivers, they are
deceived. They suppose what they see to be reality. As
the divine names have manifestations from the sphere of
the Sublime Throne down to an atom, and their places of
manifestation differ to the same degree; so the degrees
of sainthood, which consist of manifesting the names,
differ in the same way. The most important reason for the
confusion is this: In
some of the stations of the saints, the characteristics
of the Mahdi's function may be observed, or a special
relation may be formed with the Supreme Spiritual Pole,
or with Khidr; certain stations are connected with
certain famous persons. In fact, the stations are called
the station of Khidr, the station of Uvays, or the
station of the Mahdi. Because of this, people who attain
to these stations, or to minor samples or shadows of
them, suppose themselves to be the famous persons
connected with them. They suppose themselves to be
Khidr, or the Mahdi, or the Supreme Spiritual Pole. If
such a person's ego does not seek rank and position, he
is not condemned to the state. His excessively high-flown
claims are deemed ecstatic utterances, for which he is
probably not responsible. But if his ego is secretly set
on acquiring rank and position, and if he defeated by it
and leaves off thanks and becomes proud, from there he
will gradually fall into arrogance, or descend to the
depths of madness, or deviate from the path of truth. For
he reckons the great saints to be like himself and his
good opinion of them is destroyed, because however
arrogant a soul is, it still perceives its own faults.
Comparing those great saints with himself, he imagines
them to be at fault. His respect towards the prophets
diminishes, even. Those
suffering from this should hold fast to the balance of
the Shari'a, and adopt the rules of the scholars of the
principles of religion, and take as their guides the
instructions of such authoritative scholars from among
the saints as Imam Ghazali and Imam-i Rabbani. They
should constantly accuse their own souls, and attribute
nothing to themselves other than fault, impotence, and
want. Ecstatic utterances made by followers of this way
arise from love of self, for love-filled eyes see no
faults. Because of his self-love, such a person supposes
a faulty, unworthy fragment of glass to be a brilliant or
a diamond. The most dangerous, of all these faults is
that he imagines the partial meanings which occur to his
heart in the form of inspiration to be "God's
Word," and his calling them "verses (ayat)."
This infers disrespect towards divine revelation, which
is at the most holy and exalted degree. Yes, all
inspirations from the inspirations of bees and animals to
those of ordinary people and the elite among men, and
from the inspirations of ordinary angels to those of the
sublime cherubim, are divine words of a sort. But they
are dominical speech in conformity with the capacity of
the places of manifestation and their stations; they
are the varying manifestations of dominical address
shining through seventy thousand veils. However,
it is absolutely wrong to use the proper nouns
"revelation" and "divine speech" for
such inspirations, and the word "verse," which
is a noun proper to the stars of the Qur'an - the most
evident exemplification of God's Word. As is explained
and proved in the Twelfth, Twenty-Fifth, and Thirty-First
Words, the relation between the inspiration in the hearts
of those making the above claims and the verses of the
sun of the Qur'an, which is divine speech direcdy,
resembles the relation between the tiny, dim, obscure
image of the sun appearing in the coloured mirror in your
hand and the sun in the sky. Yes, if it is said that the
sun's reflected images appearing in all mirrors are the
sun's and are related to it, it would be right, but the
globe of the earth cannot be attached to the suns in
those tiny mirrors, nor be bound by their attraction. FIFTH
ALLUSION An
extremely important way within Sufism is the Unity of
Witnessing, which is another name for the Unity of
Existence. This restricts the gaze to the who love the
world and are attached to the sphere of causes want to
ascribe a sort of permanence to this transitory world.
They do not want to lose their beloved. On the pretext of
the Unity of Existence, they imagine it to have permanent
existence. On account of the world, their beloved, and by
ascribing permanence and eternity to it, they make it an
object of worship; and, / seek refuge with God, this
paves the way to the abyss of denying God. This
century, materialism is so widespread, materiality is
thought to be the source of everything. If in such an
age, the elite believers consider materiality to be so
unimportant as to be non-existent, thus furthering the
way of the Unity of Existence, the materialists will
lay claim to it, saying: "We say the same
thing." Whereas, among all the ways in the world,
the one furthest from that of the materialists and
nature-worshippers, is the way of the Unity of
Existence. For the followers of the Unity of Existence
attach such importance, due to their belief, to the
divine existence that they deny the universe and beings.
Whereas the materialists attach so much importance to
beings that on account of the universe they deny God. How
can the two come together or be compared? SIXTH
ALLUSION This
consists of three Points. First Point: Among the ways of
sainthood, the finest, straightest, richest, and most
brilliant is following the practices (Sunna) of the
Prophet (PBUH). That is, to think of the practices in
one's actions and deeds, and to follow and imitate them.
In conduct and dealings with others, it is to think of
the rulings of the Shari'a and take them as one's guide. When
followed in this way, daily conduct, dealings, and
habitual acts become worship, and thinking of the
practices and Shari'a in one's actions, recalls the
injunctions of the Shari'a. This causes a person to think
of the owner of the Shari'a. By thinking of him, it
brings to mind Almighty God, and that induces a sort of
sense of His presence. This may transform all the moments
of the person's life into worship in the divine presence.
This great highway is the highway of the Companions and
the righteous of the first generations of Islam, who
received the legacy of prophethood, the greater
sainthood. Second
Point: Sincerity is the basis of the ways of sainthood
and of the branches of the Sufi path, for through
sincerity a person may be saved from implicitly
associating partners with God. One who does not obtain
sincerity cannot travel those ways. The most powerful
force of those ways is love. Yes, love does not seek
pretexts for its beloved and does not wish to see the
beloved's faults. It looks on frail signs of its
beloved's perfection as powerful proofs, and always takes
the part of its beloved. It
is because of this that those who are turned towards
knowledge of God with the feet of love, do not give ear
to doubts and objections; they are easily saved. Even a
thousand satans can not negate a hint of their true
beloved's perfection. If they do not possess such love,
they would struggle desperately in the face of their
souls and Satan and the objections of the outside devils.
They would have to have heroic fortitude and strength of
belief and an attentive gaze in order to save
themselves. It
is because of this that in all the degrees of
sainthood, the chief leaven and elixir is the love
arising from knowledge of God. But love leads to an
abyss, which is this: it jumps from beseeching and
self-effacement, which are the essence of worship, to
complaint and claims and to imbalanced actions. When
regarding things other than God, a person ceases to see
how they point to their Maker (manayý harfi) and
starts to see them as signifying themselves alone (mana-yi
ismt), so while being the cure, love becomes poison. That
is to say, although when loving things other than God,
the person should fix his heart on them for God's sake
and in His name and because they are mirrors reflecting
His names, sometimes he loves them for themselves and on
account of their personal perfections and own beauty. He
loves them with no thought for God and His Messenger.
Such love does not lead to love of God; it obscures it.
Whereas if the person loves those things as signifying
their Maker, it leads to love of God; indeed, such love
may be said to be its manifestation. Third
Point: This world is the realm of wisdom, the realm of
service; it is not the realm of reward and recompense.
The wage for deeds and acts of service here is given in
the Intermediate Realm and the hereafter. Acts here
produce fruits there, This being the truth of the matter,
the results of actions that look to the hereafter should
not be sought in this world. If they are given, they
should be received not gratefully, but regretfully. For
in It
is because of this that the people of sainthood look on
service, difficulty, misfortune, and hardship as
agreeable. They do not complain and lament, but say:
"All praise be to God for all situations!" When
illuminations and wonders, unfoldings and lights are
bestowed on them, they accept them as divine favours, and
try to conceal them. They do not become proud, but offer
more thanks and worship. Many of them have wanted those
states to be concealed or to cease*, lest they spoil the
sincerity of their actions. Yes, the highest divine
favour for an acceptable person is not to make him
realize the favour, so that he does not give up
beseeching and offering thanks, or become complacent and
start complaining. It
is because of this truth that if those who seek sainthood
and follow the Sufi path do so for illuminations and
wonders, which are some of the emanations of sainthood,
and they are turned towards those and receive pleasure
from them, they as though consume in transient fashion in
this transient world the enduring fruits of the
hereafter. This too opens up the way to loss of
sincerity, the leaven of sainthood, and to sainthood
eluding them. SEVENTH
ALLUSION This
consists of four points. First
Point: The Shari'a is directly, without shadow or veil,
the result of the divine address, through the mystery of
divine oneness (ehadiyet) in respect of absolute
dominicality (rububiyet). The highest degrees of the Sufi
path (tar ikat)-and of reality (hakikaf) are like parts
of the Shari'a. Or they are always like its means,
introduction, and servant. Their results are the
incontrovertible matters of the Shari'a. That is to say,
the ways of the Sufi orders and of reality are like
means, servants, and steps for reaching the truths of the
Shari'a, till at the highest level they are transformed
into the meaning of reality and essence of the Sufi
way, which are at the heart of the Shari'a. So then they
become parts of the Greater Shari'a. It is not right to
think of the Shari'a as an outer shell and reality as its
inner part and result and aim, as some Sufis do. Yes, the
Shari'a unfolds according to the levels of men. It is
wrong to suppose that what the mass of people imagine
is the external aspect of the Shari'a is its reality, and
to give the names of reality and Sufi path to the degrees
of the Shari'a that are disclosed to the elite. The
Shari'a has degrees which look to all classes. It
is in consequence of this that the further the Sufis and
those who seek reality advance, their longing for the
truths of the Shari'a increases, as does their
captivation by them and their following them. They
consider the most minor aspect of the Prophet's (PBUH)
practices to be their greatest aim, and strive to follow
them and imitate them. For however higher divine
revelation is than inspiration, the conduct of the
Shari'a, which is the fruit of revelation, is higher to
the same degree than the conduct of the Sufi path, the
fruit of inspiration. Therefore, following the
Prophet's (PBUH) practices is the basis and principal
element of the Sufi path. Second
Point: The Sufi path and way of reality should not exceed
being means. If they are made the ultimate aim, the
incontrovertible teachings and actions of the Shari'a
and following the practices of the Prophet (PBUH) become
merely a matter of form, while the heart looks beyond
them. That is to say, such a person thinks of his circle
for the remembrance of God rather than the obligatory
prayers; he is drawn more to his recitations and
supplications than to his religious obligations; he is
more concerned with avoiding offending against his
order's rules of behaviour than with avoiding grievous
sins. Whereas the recitations of the Sufi path cannot be
the equivalent of the obligatory acts that constitute the
incontestible matters of the Shari'a; they cannot take
their place. The etiquette of the Sufi path and its
invocations should be a solace and a way of obtaining
true pleasure from the obligatory acts; they should not
themselves be the source. That is, the tekke should lead
a person to perform the five daily prayers assiduously in
the mosque. If he performs them there hurriedly as a
formality, thinking that he will find true pleasure and
perfection in the tekke, he is drawing away from reality. Third
Point: It is sometimes asked: "Can there be any Sufi
path outside the practices of the Prophet (PBUH) and
matters of the Shari'a?" The
Answer: There are some such paths, and there are not.
There are, because some of the highest saints were
executed by the sword of the Shari'a. And there are not,
because the authoritative scholars among the saints (muJiakkikin-i
evliya) have agreed on this rule of Sa'di-i Shirazi: "It
is impossible, Sa'di, to be victorious on the way of
felicity, except by following the God's
Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) was the Seal
of the Prophets and the addressee of God in the name of
all mankind; mankind, therefore, cannot advance outside
his highway; it is essential to be under his banner. But
since ecstatics and those immersed in divine
contemplation are not responsible for their opposition;
and since man possesses certain subtle faculties that
are not held accountable, and when such faculties
dominate a person, he cannot be held responsible for
opposing the obligations of the Shari'a; and since man
possesses subtle faculties that just as they are not
accountable, so they are not under the jurisdiction of
the will, and cannot be controlled by the mind, for they
do not heed the heart or the mind; certainly, when those
faculties dominate in a person, - but only at that time -
he does not fall from the rank of sainthood by opposing
the Shari'a, he is held excused. On condition, however,
that he does not deny or insult the truths of the Shari'a
and rules of belief, or display contempt towards them.
Even if he does not carry out the injunctions, he has to
acknowledge that they are right. But if he is overcome
by that state and assumes a position, / seek refuge
with God, which infers denial and giving the lie to those
incontestible truths, it is the sign that he has deviated
from the path! In
Short: There are two groups that follow the Sufi path
outside the bounds of the Shari'a. One
group: As described above, these people are either
overwhelmed by their mental state, immersion, or
ecstasy or intoxication, or they are dominated by some
of their subtle faculties that do not heed the
injunctions of religion nor listen to the will; they
therefore transgress the bounds of the Shari'a. But this
is not due to their disliking its rulings or not wanting
to follow them; they are rather compelled to,
involuntarily. Among this group are people of sainthood
some of whom have even been temporary saints of high
rank. But the authoritative scholars from among the
saints {muhakkikin-i evliya) have ruled that of these
some have been not only outside the bounds of the
Shari'a, but outside the bounds of Islam. But they are
considered to be people of sainthood on condition they
have not denied any of the injunctions brought by
Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him). It is that
they do not think of them, or cannot keep them in view,
or are not aware of them. They cannot not accept them if
they are aware of them. As
for the Second Group, they are carried away by the
brilliant pleasures of the Sufi path and way of reality,
and since they cannot attain to the pleasures of the
truths of the Shari'a, which are far more elevated,
they suppose them to be dull formalities and are
indifferent towards them. They gradually accept the idea
that the Shari'a is an external shell, and that the
reality they have found is the essential goal. They say:
"I have found it; it is enough for me," and act
in a way contrary to the injunctions of the Shari'a. Any
in this group who are in their right minds are
responsible; they stray from the path, indeed, become the
playthings of Satan to an extent. Fourth
Point: Some persons who belong to the divisions of the
people of misguidance and innovation are found acceptable
by the Muslim community, while others, just like them
and not apparently different, are rejected. I always
used to wonder about this. For example, although someone
like Zamakhshari was one of the most bigoted members of
the Mu'tazilite sect, the authoritative Sunni scholars
did not pronounce him an unbeliever or misguided,
despite his severe objections; they rather searched for a
way to exonerate him. But then they held that Mu'tazilite
authorities like Abu 'Ali Jubba'i, who was far less
bigoted than Zamakhshari, should be rejected and refuted.
I was curious about this for a long time. Then through
divine grace I understood that Zamakhshari's objections
about the Sunnis arose from his love of his way, which he
looked on as right. That
is to say, for example, in his view God could be truly
declared free of all fault and defect by saying that
animals create their own actions. It was out of love for
declaring God free of all fault that he did not accept
the Sunnis' principles concerning the creation of
actions. Whereas the other Mu'tazilite authorities were
rejected because their inadequate intelligences could not
aspire to the elevated principles of the Sunnis and
they could not fit the Sunni's extensive laws within
their own narrow ideas, and so denied them. In the same
way that the Mu'tazilites opposed the Sunnis in theology,
so the opposition of some followers of the Sufi path
outside the Prophet's (PBUH) practices is of two kinds: The
first: Like Zamakhshari, out of love for their way or
state, they remain somewhat indifferent towards the
conduct of the Shari'a, because through it they cannot
obtain the same degree of pleasure. As
for the other kind: God forbid! They think the conduct of
the Shari'a is unimportant relatively to the principles
of the Sufi path. For their narrow understanding cannot
comprehend those broad pleasures, and their short
stations cannot attain to that elevated conduct. EIGHTH
ALLUSION This
describes eight Abysses. The
First: Some people who embark on spiritual journeying do
not conform completely- to the practices of the Prophet
(PBUH), and fall into the abyss of preferring sainthood
to prophethood. It is proved in the Twenty-Fourth and
Thirty-First Words how elevated is prophethood, and how
dull sainthood is in relation to it. The
Second: Some of followers of the Sufi path fall into the
abyss of preferring extremist saints to the Prophet's
(PBUH) Companions and even of believing those saints to
be prophets. It is proved decisively in the Twelfth and
Twenty-Seventh Words and in the Addendum on the
Companions, that the Companions acquired such qualities
through conversation with the Prophet (PBUH) that cannot
be attained through sainthood, and that the Companions
cannot be surpassed, and that the saints can never reach
the degree of the Companions. The
Third: Some of those who are excessively bigoted
concerning the Sufi path oppose the practices of the
Prophet (PBUH) and give them up because of their
preference for the customs, conduct, and recitations of
the Sufi way, which they never give up. In this way, they
become slack in practising the conduct of the Shari'a,
and fall into that abyss. As
is proved in many of the Words, and as veracious
authorities (muhakkiktri) of the Sufi path like Imam
Ghazali and Imam-i Rabbani said: "The degree of
acceptance gained by following a single of the Prophet's
(PBUH) practices cannot be won through a hundred personal
practices and supererogatory acts of worship. And just
as a single obligatory act is superior to a thousand acts
taken from the Prophet's practices, so a single of those
practices is superior to a thousand practices of
Sufism." The
Fourth: Some extremist Sufis suppose inspiration to be
like divine revelation and of similar kind to revelation,
and fall into an abyss. It has been proved most
definitely in the Twelfth Word and in the Twenty-Fifth
Word on the Miraculousness of the Qur'an, how elevated,
universal, and sacred is divine revelation, and how
insignificant and dull inspirations are in comparison. The
Fifth: Some Sufis who do not understand the essence of
the Sufi path, in order to strengthen the weak, encourage
the slack, and to lighten the hardships and weariness
arising from strenuous service, find the lights,
illuminations, and wonders, which are not sought but
given, to be pleasurable, and they become captivated by
them and fall into the abyss of preferring them to
worship, acts of service, and recitation of
supplications. It is mentioned briefly in the Third Point
of the Sixth Allusion in the present treatise and
proved decisively in others of the Words that this world
is the realm of service and not the realm of reward.
People who seek their recompense here, both transform
enduring, perpetual fruits into a transitory and
temporary form, and find permanence in this world
pleasing, so they do not yearn for the Intermediate
Realm. Quite simply, they love the life of this world in
one respect, since they find a sort of hereafter within
it. The
Sixth: Some of those who embark on spiritual journeying
fall into an abyss by confusing the shades and shadows
and partial samples of the stations of sainthood with
its fundamental, universal stations. As is proved clearly
in the Second Branch of the Twenty-Fourth Word and in
others of the Words, the sun becomes numerous by means of
mirrors and thousands of its similitudes possess light
and heat like the sun itself, despite their paltriness in
relation to the actual sun. In exactly the same way, the
stations of the prophets and the great saints possess
shades and shadows. Those who journey with the spirit
enter these, and see themselves as greater than those
great saints, or even to have advanced further than the
prophets, and so fall into an abyss. However, the way to
avoid this is to always take the principles of belief and
fundamentals of the Shari'a as one's basis and guide, and
to look on one's illuminations and visions as opposed
to them. The
Seventh: Some of the people of illumination and ecstasy
fall into an abyss in their spiritual jour-neyings by
preferring pride, complaint, ecstatic utterances, public
regard, and being referred to, to offering thanks and
supplication, beseeching Almighty God, and
self-sufficiency. Whereas the highest degree is
Muhammadan worship, which is termed
"belovedness." The basis and essence of worship
is to manifest the perfection of that reality by
supplicating and beseeching Almighty God, showing deep
humility before Him, offering thanks, and through
impotence and want, and by displaying self-sufficiency in
the face of others. Some of the great saints have
involuntarily and temporarily become proud and made
complaints and ecstatic utterances, but they should not
be followed voluntarily on such points; they are
rightly-guided but not the guide; their way may not be
taken! The
Eighth Abyss: Some of those who journey spiritually are
self-centered and precipitate and want to consume in this
world the fruits of sainthood, which will be given in the
hereafter; they fall into an abyss by seeking them on
their spiritual journeyings. But, as such verses as, "The
life of this world is but goods and chattels"2 proclaim,
and as is proved decisively in many of the Words, a
single fruit in the realm of eternity is superior to a
thousand gardens in this fleeting world. For this reason,
those blessed fruits should not be consumed here. If
without being sought they are given to eat here, they
should be thanked for, and deemed divine favours
bestowed, not as reward, but for encouragement. NINTH
ALLUSION Here
we shall describe briefly nine out of the truly numerous
fruits and benefits of the Sufi path. The
First is the unfolding and clarification, by means of the
Sufi paths that are on the straight way, of the truths of
faith, which are the keys, sources, and springs of the
eternal treasuries of everlasting happiness; it is their
manifestation at the degree of the vision of certainty. The
Second: Since the Sufi path is a means of working the
heart, the mainspring of the human machine, and of
causing the heart to stir the other subtle faculties into
motion, it drives them to fulfil the purposes of their
creation, and thus makes a person into a true human
being. The
Third: On the journey to the Intermediate Realm and the
hereafter, it is to join one of the lines of the Sufi
orders, and become a member of its 2.Qur'an,3:185.
luminous
caravan on the road to eternity. The person is thus saved
from loneliness and finds the friendship of the other
members in this world and in the Intermediate Realm; and
relying on their consensus and accord in the face of the
attacks of doubts and fears, and seeing each of their
masters as a powerful support and proof, he repulses
through them those doubts and instances of misguidance. The
Fourth is to understand by means of the pure Sufi way the
knowledge of God to be found in belief in God, and the
pleasure of love of God within the knowledge of God, and
by so understanding, to be saved from the desolation of
this world and man's exile in the universe. We have
proved in many of the Words that the happiness of both
worlds, and pain-free pleasure, and intimacy untainted by
loneliness, and true delight, and untroubled happiness
are all to be found in faith and the reality of Islam. As
is explained in the Second Word, faith produces the seed
of a Tuba-tree of The
Fifth is to perceive through an awakening of the heart
elicited by the Sufi path and remembrance of God, the
subtle truths contained in the obligations of the
Shari'a, and to appreciate them. Then the person obeys
and performs his worship, not under compulsion, but
with longing. The
Sixth is to rise to the station of reliance on God and
the rank of submission to Him and winning His
pleasure, which are the means of obtaining true delight,
real solace, painfree pleasure, and friendship
untainted by loneliness. The
Seventh is, through sincerity, which is the essential
precondition for travelling the Sufi way and its most
valuable result, to be delivered from base qualities like
implicitly associating partners with God, hypocrisy, and
artificiality. It is also to be saved, through purifying
the soul, which is like the surgical operation of the
Sufi path, from the dangers of the evil-commanding soul
and the perils of egotism. The
Eighth: Through the regard, sense of the divine presence,
and powerful intentions of the Sufi path, gained by
recalling God with the heart and reflecting on Him with
the mind, this is to transform customary actions into
worship and make mundane dealings into actions benefiting
the hereafter. Utilizing the capital of life, it is to
make all its minutes into seeds that will produce the
shoots of eternal happiness. The
Ninth is to struggle to be a perfect human being through
journeying with the heart and striving with the spirit
and spiritual progress; that is to say, to be a true
believer and total Muslim; that is, to gain not
superficial belief, but the reality of belief and the
reality of Islam; that is, to be directly the bondsman of
the Glorious Creator of the Universe, in the universe and
in one respect as the universe's representative, and to
be His addressee, and friend. and
beloved, and to be a mirror to Him; and through showing
man to be on the best of patterns, it is to prove man's
superiority to the angels. It is to fly through the lofty
stations with the Shari'a's wings of faith and works, and
to behold eternal happiness in this world, and even to
enter upon it. Glory
be unto You! We liave no knowledge save that which You
have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise!3 0
God! Grant blessings and peace to the Supreme Help in
every age and the Sublime Spiritual Pole at all times,
our master Muhammad, the magnificence of whose
sainthood was manifested in his Ascension, as was the
station of his being the beloved of God, and under the
shadow of whose Ascension are included all sainthoods,
and to all his Family and Companions. Amen. And all
praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds. 3.Qur'ân,2:32.
Addendum
to the Twenty-Sixth Word A
Short, [This
short Addendum has great importance; it is beneficial for
everyone.] In
the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
he
ways leading to Almighty God are truly numerous. While
all true ways are taken from the Qur'an, some are
shorter, safer, and more general than others. Of these
ways taken from the Qur'an is that of impotence, poverty,
compassion, and reflection, from which, with my
defective understanding, I have benefited. Like
ecstatic love, impotence is a path which, by way of
worship, leads to winning God's love; but it is safer.
Poverty too leads to the divine name of All-Merciful.
And, like ecstatic love, compassion leads to the name of
All-Compassionate, but it is a swifter and broader path.
Also like ecstatic love, reflection leads to the name of
All-Wise, but it is richer,
broader,
and more brilliant path. This path consists not of ten
steps like the ten subtle faculties of some of the Sufi
paths employing silent recollection, nor of seven stages
like the seven souls of those practising public
recitation, but of four steps. It is reality (hakikat), rather
than a Sufi way (tarikat). It is Shari'a. However,
let it not be misunderstood. It means to see one's
impotence, poverty and faults before Almighty God, not to
fabricate them or display them to people. The method of
this short path is to follow the practices of the Prophet
(PBUH), perform the religious obligations and give up
serious sins. Especially, it is to perform the
prescribed prayers correctly and with attention, and
following them to say the tesbihat. The
verse, "Therefore, do not justify yourselves,"[1]
points to the first step. The
verse, "And be not like those who forget God, and He
therefore makes them forget their own selves,"[2]
points to the second step. The
verse, "Wliatever good liappens to you is from God,
but whatever evil befalls you is from yourself?[3]
points to the third step. The
verse, "Everything will perish save His
countenance"[4]
points to the fourth step. A
brief explanation of these four steps is as follows: FIRST
STEP As
the verse, "Therefore,
do not justify yourselves" suggests,
it is to not purify the soul. For on account of his
nature and innate disposition, man loves himself.
Indeed, he loves himself before anything else, and only
himself. He sacrifices everything other than himself to
his own soul. He praises himself in a manner befitting
some object worthy of worship. He absolves and exonerates
himself from faults in the same way. As far as he
possibly can, he does not see faults as being appropriate
for him, and does not accept them. He defends himself
passionately as though worshipping himself. Even, using
on himself the members and faculties given him as part of
his nature in order to praise and glorify the True Object
of Worship, he displays the meaning of the verse, "Who
takes as his god his own desires."[5] He
considers himself, he relies on himself, he fancies
himself. Thus, his purification and cleansing at this
stage, in this step, is to not purify himself; it is not
to absolve himself. SECOND
STEP As
the verse. "And
be not like those who forget God, and He therefore makes
them forget their own selves" teaches,
man is oblivious of himself and not aware of himself. If
he thinks of death, it is in relation to others. If he
sees transience and decline, he does not attribute them
to himself. His evil-commanding soul demands that when it
comes to inconvenience and service of others, he forgets
himself, but when it comes to receiving his recompense,
and to benefits and enjoyment, he thinks of himself and
takes his own part fervently. His purification,
cleansing, and training at this stage is the reverse of
this. That is to say, when oblivious of himself, it is
not to be oblivious. That is, to forget himself when it
comes to pleasure, and ambition and greed, and to think
of himself when it comes to death and service of others. THIRD
STEP As
the verse, "Whatever
good happens to you is from God, but whatever evil
befalls you is from yourself teaches,
the nature of the evil-commanding soul demands that it
always considers goodness to be from itself and it
becomes vain and conceited. Thus, in this Step, a person
sees only faults, defects, impotence, and poverty in
himself, and understandsthat all his good qualities and
perfections are bounties bestowed on him by the
All-Glorious Creator. He gives thanks instead of being
conceited, and offers praise instead of boasting.
According to the meaning of the verse, "Truly
he succeeds who purifies it,"[6] his
purification at this stage is to know his perfection to
lie in imperfection, his power in impotence, and his
wealth in poverty. FOURTH
STEP As
the verse, "Everything
will perish save His countenance" teaches,
the evil-commanding soul considers itself to be free and
independent and to exist of itself. Because of this, man
claims to possess a sort of dominicality. He harbours a
hostile rebelliousness towards his True Object of
Worship. Thus, through understanding the following fact,
he is saved from this. The fact is this: According
to the apparent meaning of things, which looks to each
thing itself, everything is transitory, wanting,
accidental, non-existent. But according to the meaning
that signifies something other than itself and in respect
of each thing being a mirror to the All-Glorious
Maker's names and charged with various duties, each is a
witness, it is witnessed, and it is existent. The
purification and cleansing of a person at this stage is
as follows: In
his existence he is non-existent, and in his
nonexistence he has existence. That is to say, if he
values himself and attributes existence to himself, he
is in the darkness of non-existence as great as the
universe. That is, if he relies on his individual
existence and is unmindful of the True Giver of
Existence, he has an individual light of existence like
that of a fire-fly and is submerged in an endless
darkness of non-existence and separation. But if he gives
up egotism and sees that he is a mirror of the
manifestations of the True Giver of Existence, he gains
all beings and an infinite existence. For he who finds
the Necessary Existent One, the manifestation of Whose
names all beings manifest, finds everything. Conclusion The
four steps in this way of impotence, poverty, compassion,
and reflection have been explained in the twenty-six Words
so far written, which are concerned with knowledge of
reality, the reality of the Shari'a, and the wisdom of
the Qur'an. So here, we shall allude briefly to only one
or two points, as follows: This
path is shorter, because it consists of four steps. When
impotence causes a person to give up the soul, it turns
him directly to the All-Powerful One
of Glory. Whereas, when a person on the way of ecstatic
love, the swiftest way, gives up the soul, his way
directs him to a temporary {mecazt) beloved. Only when he
discovers the beloved's impermanence does he turn to the
True Beloved. Also,
this path is much safer, because the ravings and
high-flown claims of the soul are not present on it. For
apart from impotence, poverty, and defect, the soul
possesses nothing so that it oversteps its mark. Also,
this path is much broader and more universal. For in
order to attain to a constant awareness of God's
presence, a person is not compelled to imagine the
universe to be condemned to non-existence and to declare:
"There is no existent but He," like those who
believe in the Unity of Existence, nor to suppose the
universe to be condemned to imprisonment in absolute
oblivion and to say, "There is nothing witnessed
but He," like those who believe in the Unity of
Witnessing. Rather, since the Qur'an has most explicitly
pardoned the universe and released it from execution and
imprisonment, the person on this path disregards the
above, and dismissing beings from working on their own
account and employing them on account of the All-Glorious
Creator, and in the duty of manifesting the Most
Beautiful Names and being mirrors to them, he considers
them from the point of view of signifying something other
than themselves; and being saved from absolute
heedlessness, he enters the divine
presence
permanently; he finds a way leading to the Almighty God
in everything. In
Short: Dismissing beings from working on account of other
beings, this way is to not look at them as signifying
themselves.
from
The Fifteenth Letter The
Companions' Sainthood In
His Name, be He glorified! And there is nothing but it
glorifies Him with praise. My
Dear Brother! YOUR FIRST QUESTION
hy
didn't the Companions discover the troublemakers with the
eye of sainthood, so that it resulted in three of the
four Rightly-Guided Caliphs being martyred? For it is
said that the lesser Companions were greater than the
greatest saints? The
Answer: This matter comprises two stations. First
Station The
question is solved by explaining as follows a subtle
mystery of sainthood: The
Companions' sainthood, known as the greater sainthood (velâyet-i
kiibra), is a sainthood which arose from the legacy of
prophethood (verâset-i nübüvvet), and, passing
directly from the
apparent
to reality without travelling the intermediate path,
looks to the unfolding of divine immediacy (akrebiyet). Although
this way of sainthood is very short, it is extremely
elevated. Its wonders are few, but its virtues many.
Illuminations and wonder-workings are to be encountered
infrequently on it. Moreover, the wonder-working of the
saints is mostly involuntary; wonders appear from them
unexpectedly as a divine bestowal. And the majority of
such illuminations and wonder-workings occur during their
spiritual journeying, as they traverse the intermediate
realm of the Sufi path; they manifest these
extra-ordinary states because they have withdrawn to a
degree from ordinary humanity. As for the Companions, due
to the reflection, attraction, and elixir of the company
of prophethood, they were not compelled to traverse the
vast sphere of spiritual journeying of the Sufi way. They
were able to pass from the apparent to reality in one
step, through one conversation with the Prophet
(Blessings and peace be upon him). For example, there are
two ways of reaching the Night of Power, if it was last
night: One
is to travel and wander for a year and so come to that
night. One has to traverse a year's distance to gain
this proximity. This is the method of those who take the
way of spiritual journeying, which most of those who
follow the Sufi path take. The
second is to slip free of and be divested of the sheath
of corporeality, which is restricted by time, to rise in
the spirit, and to see the Night of Power,
which was last night, together with the night of the 'Id,
which is the day after tomorrow, as being present like
today. For the spirit is not restricted by time. When the
human emotions rise to the level of the spirit, present
time expands. Time, which for others consists of the past
and the future, is as though the present for such a
person. According
to this comparison, in order to reach the Night of Power,
one has to rise to the level of the spirit and see the
past as though it were the present. Essentially, this
obscure mystery is the unfolding of divine immediacy. For
example, the sun is near to us, for its light and heat
are present in the mirror we are holding. But we are far
from it. If we perceive its immediacy from the point of
view of luminosity, and understand our relation to its
reflection in our mirror, which is a similitude; if we
come to know it by that means, and know what its light,
heat, and totality are, its immediacy is unfolded to us
and we recognize it as close to us and we become
connected to it. If we want to draw near to it and get to
know it in respect of our distance from it, we are
compelled to embark on an extensive journeying in the
mind, so that by means of thought and the laws of
science, we can rise to the skies in the mind and
conceive of the sun there, and through lengthy
scientific investigation understand its light and heat
and the seven colours in its light. Only then may we
attain to the non-physical proximity the first man
attained with little thought through his mirror. Thus,
like this comparison, the sainthood of pro-phethood and
of the legacy of prophethood looks to the mystery of the
unfolding of divine immediacy. The other sainthood
proceeds mostly on the basis of proximity, and is
compelled to traverse numerous degrees in spiritual
journeying. Second
Station The
persons who were the cause of those events and instigated
the trouble did not consist of a few Jews so that having
discovered them the trouble could have been prevented.
For with numerous different peoples entering Islam,
many currents and ideas that were mutually conflicting
had confused the situation. Particularly since the
national pride of some of them had received awesome
wounds at 'Umar's (May God be pleased with him) blows;
they were waiting to take their revenge. For both their
old religion had been rendered null and void and their
old rule and sovereignty, the source of their pride, been
swept away. Knowingly or unknowingly, they were
emotionally in favour of taking their revenge on Islamic
rule. It was therefore said that some clever, scheming
dissemblers like the Jews took advantage of that state of
society. That is to say, it could have been prevent by
reforming the society and the various ideas of the time,
not by discovering one or two troublemakers. If
it is asked: Why, with that piercing eye of sainthood of
his, didn't 'Umar (May God bepleased with him) see his
murderer, Firuz, who was with him, although while in the
pulpit he said to one of his commanders called Sariya who
was a month's distance away, "Sariya! The mountain,
the mountain!",[7] making Sariya hear it and
in wondrous fashion causing a strategic victory -
showing how piercing his view was? The
Answer: Our answer is that of the Prophet Jacob (Upon
whom be peace). That is, Jacob was asked: "How did
you perceive the odour of Joseph's shirt from In
Short: However much man acts with choice, still, in
accordance with the verse, You
do not will it except as God wills,2 divine
will is fundamental, Divine Determining (kader) is
dominant. Divine will restores human will. It confirms
the statement, "If Divine Determining speaks, it
is beyond human power to speak; man's will falls
silent." The
Eighteenth Letter The
Legacy of Prophethood and Unity of Existence In
His Name, be He glorified! And there is nothing but it
glorifies Him with praise. [This
letter consists of three important matters.] FIRST
IMPORTANT MATTER
amous
saints like Muhyi'l-Din al-'Arabi (May his mystery be
sanctified), the author of al-Futuhat al-Makkiya, and
Sayyid 'Abd al-Karim (May his mystery be sanctified), the
author of a well-known book entitled al-Insan al-Kamil,[8]
speak of the seven levels of the globe of the earth
and the white earth beyond the Kaf mountain, and strange
things which in Futuliat are called "inashma-shiya."
Are these true? But these places do not exist on the
earth. Furthermore, the things that they say are not
accepted by geography and science. And if they are not
true, how can they be saints? How can people who say
things contrary to reality and the truth in this way be
people of reality? The
Answer: They were the people of truth and reality. They
were also saints and experienced direct vision of the
realities. They saw correctly what they saw, but since
they were not correct in declarations they made while in
the state of illumination and witnessing, which is
without comprehension, and in their interpretations of
their visions, which were like dreams, they were
partially incorrect. People of unveiling and direct
vision (ehl-i kesf ve suhud) of that sort cannot
interpret their own visions while in such a state, just
as a person cannot interpret his own dream while dreaming
it. Those who can interpret them are the exact scholars (muhakkik;
lit. verifiers) of the legacy of prophet-hood, called
"the purified ones (asfiya)." For sure, when
they rise to the rank of the purified ones, the people of
direct vision belonging to that group understand their
errors through the guidance of the Qur'an and the
Prophet's (PBUH) practices, and they correct them; and
they did correct them. Listen
to this story which is the form of a comparison and
will illustrate this truth. It is like this: One
time, there were two shepherds who were from among those
who approach reality with their hearts. They milked their
sheep into a wooden pail and put the pail beside them.
They laid their shep-
herd's
pipe on the pail, then one of them stretched out,
overcome by sleep. He slept for a while. The other
shepherd was watching him carefully when he saw something
like a fly emerge from the sleeping man's nose, look at
the pail of milk, enter the pipe at one end, emerge from
the other, then disappear into a hole under a bush. Some
while later the thing emerged again, passed down the
shepherd's pipe, entered the sleeping man's nose,
whereupon he awoke. He exclaimed: "I had an
extraordinary dream!" His friend replied: "May
God make good come of it. What was it?" The other
man said: "I saw a sea of milk stretching over which
was a strange bridge. The upper part of the bridge was
closed and contained windows. I passed through the
bridge. I saw a grove of oaks, the tops of which were ail
pointed. Beneath them was a cave; I entered it, and I saw
some treasure full of gold. How can this be interpreted,
I wonder?" His
alert friend said to him: "The sea of milk you saw
was this wooden pail, and the bridge, our shepherd's
pipe. The pointed oak trees were this bush, while the
cave was this small hole. Get the pickaxe and I'll show
you the treasure." He brought the pick and they dug
under the bush; there they found gold enough to make them
both prosperous in this world. Thus,
what the sleeping man dreamt was right, and what he saw,
correct, but because he had no comprehension while
dreaming and no right to interpret the dream, he could
not distinguish between the physical world and the
non-material world and his assertions were partially
wrong; he said: "I saw an actual physical sea."
But since the man who was awake could distinguish between
the physical world and the World of Similitudes, he had
the right to interpret the dream; he said: "What you
saw in the dream was right, but it wasn't an actual sea;
our milk pail appeared to your imagination as a sea, and.
our pipe as a bridge, and so on." That means the
physical and spiritual worlds have to be distinguished
from one another. If they are combined, assertions about
them appear wrong. For
example, you have a small room the four walls of which
have been covered with four large mirrors. When you enter
it, you see the small room to be as broad as a large
arena. If you say, "My room appears to be as large
as a broad arena," what you say is correct. But if
you assert, "My room is as large as a broad
arena," you would be wrong, for you are confusing
the World of Similitudes with the actual world. Thus,
having failed to weigh them on the,balances of the Book
and Sunna (Prophet's practices), the descriptions of the
seven levels of the globe made by certain people of
unveiling (ehl-i kesf) do not refer only to its physical
state from the point of view of geography. For instance,
they said that one of the earth's levels-is that
inhabited by the jinns and demons, and that it has a
breadth of thousands of years. But those strange levels
are not found on our globe, which makes its circuit every
one or two years. However, if we suppose the globe to be
like a pine-seed in the World of Meaning, the World of
Similitudes, the Intermediate Realm, and the World of
Spirits, the similitude of the tree formed from it would
be like a huge pine-tree in relation to the seed. Thus,
in the course of their spiritual journey-ings, some of
the people of direct vision (ehl-i suhüd) have observed
that some of the earth's levels in the World of
Similitudes are extremely extensive and that they stretch
over a distance of thousands of years. What they saw was
right, but because superficially the World of
Similitudes resembles the physical world, they saw the
two worlds blended together, and interpreted them thus.
When they returned to the world of sobriety, since they
lacked balance, and since they wrote exactly what they
witnessed, it has been thought to be contrary to reality. Like
the similitudes of a large palace and large garden may be
found in a small mirror, so similitudes and
non-material realities as extensive as thousands of
years may be situated in a single year's distance in
the physical world. Conclusion:
It is understood from this matter that the degree of
direct vision is far inferior to that of belief in the
Unseen. That is to say, the uncomprehending disclosures
of some of the saints relying only on direct vision do
not attain to the statements about the truths of faith
made by the purified and exact scholars, who are the
people of the legacy of prophethood and who rely on the
Qur'an and Revelation, not on direct vision - their
statements that are about the Unseen but are lucid,
comprehensive, and right. That is to say, the balance of
all illuminations, mental states, visions, and unveilings
are the Book and Sunna, and their touchstone are the
sacred principles of the Book and Sunna, and the
conjectural laws of the purified, exacting scholars. SECOND
IMPORTANT MATTER Question:
The Unity of Existence is considered by many people to
be the most elevated station, but there was no explicit
sign of it among the Companions and foremost the four
Rightly-Guided Caliphs, who were at the level of the
greatest sainthood {veldyet-i kiibra), or among the
Imams of the Prophet's Family and foremost the five
People of the Cloak, or the great interpreters of the law
and the generation following the Companions and
foremost the founders of the four schools of law. So
did those who lived later advance further than them? Did
they find a better highway on which to proceed? The
Answer: God forbid! Nobody at all has the ability to
advance further than those purified ones who were the
stars and heirs closest to the Sun of Prophethood; the
highway is indeed theirs. As
for the Unity of Existence , it is a way and a state, but
it is deficient. However, because it is illuminating
and pleasurable, most of those who have reached that
degree on their spiritual journeyings have not wanted to
leave it; they have remained there and supposed it to be
the ultimate degree. If
the spirit of the person who takes this way is divested
of materiality and intermediaries and he has rent the
veil of causes, and is immersed in a state of witnessing (suhud:
direct vision), then an experiential - not pertaining
to knowledge - unity of existence that arises not from
the Unity of Existence but from the Unity of Witnessing (vahdet-iis-suhud),
may obtain for him a certain attainment, a spiritual
station. He may even reach the degree of denying the
universe for God's sake. But if he is submerged in causes
and preoccupied with materiality, for him, the Unity of
Existence may mean going so far as denying God on account
of the universe. Yes,
the great highway is the highway of the Companions, and
those that followed them, and the Purified Ones. Their
universal rule was, "the reality of things is
constant." In accordance with the sense of "There
is nothing that resembles Him,"2 Almighty
God has absolutely nothing that resembles Him. He is
utterly beyond being comprehended in place or class and
being divided into parts. His relation with beings is
creativity. Beings are not imaginings or fancies as
those who followed the way of the Unity of Existence
said. Visible things too are Almighty God's works.
Everything is not "Him," everything is
"from Him." For events cannot be pre- 2.Qur'an,42:ll. eternal.
We shall make this matter easier to understand with two
comparisons: The
First: There is a king. Through his name of Just Judge he
has a Ministry of Justice that shows the manifestation of
that name. Another of his names is Khalifa, and the
Shaykh al-Islam's Office and learned institution are the
manifestations of that name. He has also the name of
Commander-in-Chief, through which all the offices of the
army perform their actions; the army is the manifestation
of that name. Now, if someone were to appear and say:
"The king is only the Just Judge, he has no office
or ministry other than that of justice," then the
attributes and states of the religious scholars in the
Shaykh al-Islam's Office would have to be applied -not
actually but theoretically - to the officials of the
Ministry of Justice; a secondary, shadowy Shaykh
al-Islam's Office would have an'imaginary existence
within the actual Ministry of Justice. Again in
hypothetical fashion, the dealings and states of the Army
Office would be ascribed to the officials of the
Judiciary, an unreal Army Office would be imagined
there, and so on. In this situation, the king's true name
is the name of Just Judge and his true sovereignty is
his sovereignty in the Ministry of Justice. His names
like Khalifa, Commander-in-Chief, and Sultan are not
actual, but hypothetical. However, the nature of kingship
and reality of sovereignty demand all the names in
actuality. And actual names require and necessitate
actual offices. Thus,
the sovereignty of divinity necessitates in actuality
numerous sacred names like All-Merciful, Provider,
Bestovver, Creator, Doer, Munificent, and Compassionate.
And those true and actual names require actual mirrors.
Now, since the followers of the Unity of Existence say:
"There is no existent but He," they downgrade
the reality of beings to the level of imagination.
Almighty God's names of Necessary Existent, Existent,
One, and Single have true manifestations and spheres of
application. For sure, if their mirrors and spheres of
application were not real and were imaginary and
non-existent, it would not harm them. And perhaps if
there were no colour of existence in the mirror of true
existence, they would be purer and more brilliant, but
the manifestations of such names as Merciful, Provider,
Subduer, Compeller, and Creator would not be real, they
would be hypothetical. However, those names are realities
like the name of Existent, they cannot be shadows; they
are essential, not secondary. Thus,
the Companions and great interpreters of the law and
Imams of the Prophet's Family said: "The reality of
things is constant;" Almighty God has a
manifestation through all His names in actuality.
Through His creativity, all things have an accidental
existence. In relation to the Necessary Exis-tent's
existence their existence is an extremely weak, unstable
shadow, but it is not imagination, it is not fancy.
Almighty God gives existence through His name of Creator
and He continues that existence. Second
Comparison: For example, on the four walls of this house
are four full-length mirrors. However much the house is
depicted together with the other three mirrors in all the
mirrors, each holds the things in itself in accordance
with its own make-up and colour; it reflects a similitude
of the house that is particular to itself. Now, two men
enter the house. One of them looks at one of the mirrors
and says: "Everything is within it." When he
hears of the other mirrors and the images in them, he
applies what he hears to a tiny corner of the one mirror
whose contents are shadows twice over, and whose reality
has shrunk and has changed. He also says: "I see it
thus, in which case reality is thus." The other man
says to him, "Yes, you see it like that and what you
see is true. But in actuality and reality the true form
of reality is not like that. There are other mirrors
besides the one you looked at; they are not the shadow of
shadows and as tiny as you saw." Thus,
each of the divine names requires a different mirror.
And, since Merciful and Provider, for example, are real
and fundamental, they require beings worthy of them who
are needy for sustenance and compassion. Just as
All-Merciful requires real beings with spirits needy for
sustenance in a real world, so too, All-Compassionate
requires a paradise which is thus real. To maintain
that only the names of Existent, Necessarily Existent,
and Single One of Unity are real and that the other names
aremere shadows within them, is a sort of injustice
towards those other names. It
is due to this mystery that the great highway is surely
the highway of the Companions, the Purified Ones, the
Imams of the Prophet's Family, and the great interpreters
of the law and founders of the four schools of law, who
possessed greater sainthood and were directly the first
class of the Qur'an's students. Glory
be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You
have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise? O
our Sustainer! Do not cause our hearts to swerve now that
You have guided us, and bestow mercy on us from You; for
You are the Bestower of Gifts.[9] 0
God! Grant blessings to the one whom You sent as a Mercy
to all the worlds, and to all his Family and Companions. THIRD
MATTER An
important matter that has not been solved by philosophy
and reason. Every
day in [new] splendour does He [shine]![10]
* Indeed, your Sustainer is Doer of what He will.[11]
Question:
What is the reason for the astonishing unceasing
activity in the universe? What is the wisdom in it? Why
do these fleeting beings not stop, but are continuously
changed and renewed? The
Answer: To explain the wisdom in this would require a
thousand pages. So we shall leave aside a full
explanation and condense in two pages an extremely brief
summary of it. If
a person performs a natural function or social duty
enthusiastically, anyone who observes him carefully will
certainly understand that there are two things that make
him do this: The
First are the benefits, fruits, and advantages resulting
from the duty, which are called the ultimate cause. The
Second: Such things as love, desire, and pleasure cause
him to perform the duty enthusiastically, and these are
called the necessitating cause and reason. For
example, eating food; the pleasure and longing arising
from appetite drive a person to eat, and afterwards, the
result of eating is nourishing the body and perpetuating
life. In the same way, And God's is the highest
similitude,7 based on two sorts of divine
names, the awesome and astonishing endless activity in
the universe occurs for two vast instances of wisdom,
each of which is also infinite: The
First: Almighty God's Most Beautiful Names have
incalculable sorts of manifestations. The
variety in creatures arises from the variety of the
manifestations. The names require to be manifested in a
permanent fashion; that is, they want to display their
embroideries; that is, they want to see and display the
manifestations of their beauties in the mirrors of their
embroideries; that is, they want every instant to renew
the book of the universe and missives of beings; that is,
they necessitate the continuous meaningful writing, and
to display each missive to the study and gaze of the
the Most Pure-and Holy Essence, the One signified, as
well as to all conscious beings; they require to make
each of the missives read. Second
Reason and Instance of Wisdom: Just as activity in
creatures arises from appetite, desire, and pleasure, and
there is a definite pleasure in all activity; indeed, all
activity is a sort of pleasure; so too, in a suitable way
and form appropriate to His essential self-sufficiency
and absolute riches and in a manner fitting for His
absolute perfection, the Necessarily Existent One has
boundless sacred compassion and infinite holy love. And
He feels a boundless sacred ardour arising from that
sacred compassion and holy love, and an endless holy
joy arising from that sacred ardour, and, if one may say
so, an infinite sacred pleasure arising from the sacred
joy. And pertaining to that Merciful and Compassionate
One, is, if the term is permissible, a boundless sacred
gratification and infinite holy pride arising from the
boundless feeling ofcompassion that springs from the
sacred pleasure, sacred gratification and pride which
arise from the gratitude and perfections of creatures
which result from their abilities emerging from the
potential to the actual and their developing within the
activity of power. It is these which necessitate in
boundless fashion, an endless activity. Because
philosophy, science, and natural philosophy do not know
this subtle instance of wisdom, they have confused
unconscious nature, blind chance, and lifeless causes in
this utterly knowing, wise, percipient activity, and
falling into the darkness of misguidance, have been
unable to find the light of reality. Say,
"God [sent it down];" then leave them to plunge
in vain discourse and trifling.[12]
O our Sustained Do not cause our hearts to swerve
now that You have guided us, and bestow mercy upon us
from Yourself; indeed, You are the Bestower of Gifts? O
God! Grant blessings and peace to the Solver of the
talisman of Your universe to the number of atoms of
beings, and to his Family and Companions, so long as
the earth and the heavens persist. The
Eternal One, He is the Eternal One! SaidN urs i from
The Twenty-Sixth Letter Second Matter "In
Everything is a Sign that He is One"
Explanations
of the three questions asked by the former teacher (hojd)
are to be found in various parts of the Risale-i Nur. For
now we shall just make brief allusion to them. His
First Question: Muhyi'l-Din al-'Arabi said in his letter
to Fakhr al-Din Razi: "To know God is different to
knowing He exists." What does this mean and what did
he intend by saying it? Firstly:
In the introduction to the Twenty-Second Word, which you
read to him, the comparison and example showing the
difference between the true affirmation of divine unity
and its superficial affirmation point to what was
intended. While the Second and Third Stopping-Places of
the Thirty-Second Word and its Aims, elucidate it. And
secondly: Muhyi'l-Din al-'Arabi said that to Fakhr al-Din
Razi, who was a leading authority on
theology,
because the explications of the tenets of belief and the
existence of the Necessary Existent and divine unity
offered by the authoritative scholars of the principles
of religion (usid-tid-diri) and theology (kalam) were
insufficient in his view. Yes,
the knowledge of God gained through theology does not
afford a complete knowledge and a complete sense of the
divine presence. However, when gained through the method
of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, it affords both
complete knowledge and a total sense of the divine
presence. God willing, all the parts of the Risale-i Nur perform
the duty of an electric lamp on that light-filled highway
of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition. Furthermore,
however deficient in Muhyi'l-Din al-'Arabi's view was the
knowledge of God Fakhr al-Din Razi obtained by means of
theology, the knowledge of God attained on the Sufi way
is similarly deficient in relation to the knowledge
obtained through the legacy of prophethood directly from
the All-Wise Qur'an. For in order to attain a constant
sense of the divine presence, the way of Muhyi'l-Din
al-'Arabi said: "There is no existent save He,"
going so far as to deny the existence of the universe. As
for the others, again to gain a constant sense of the
divine presence, they said: "There is none
witnessed save He," entering a strange state as
though casting the universe into absolute oblivion. However,
the knowledge of God obtained from the All-Wise Qur'an,
in addition to affording a constant sense of the Divine
presence, neither condemns the universe to non-existence,
nor imprisons it in absolute oblivion. It rather releases
it from its pur-poselessness and employs it in Almighty
God's name. Everything becomes a mirror yielding
knowledge of God. As Sa'di Shirazi said: "To the
conscious gaze each leaf is a book yielding knowledge
of the divine." In
everything a window opens up onto knowledge of God. In
some of the Words we have illustrated with the following
comparison the differences between the way of the
scholars of theology and the true highway taken from
the Qur'an: in order to have water, some is brought from
a distant place by means of pipes, digging down under
mountains. And some of it is obtained by digging wells
everywhere. The first sort is fraught with difficulties;
the pipes become blocked or broken. But those who know
how to dig wells and extract water can find water
everywhere with no trouble. In
exactly the same way, utilizing the impossibility of
causation and causal sequences, the scholars of theology
cut the chains of causes at the extremities of the
world and then they proved the existence of the
Necessarily Existent One. They travelled a long road.
However, the true highway of the Wise Qur'an finds water
everywhere and extracts it. Each of its verses causes
water to flow forth wherever it strikes, like the Staff
of Moses. Each verse makes
everything
recite the rule: "In everything is a sign indicating
that He is One." Furthermore,
faith is not gained only through knowledge; many of the
subtle faculties have their share of faith. When food
enters the stomach, it is distributed in various ways to
various members. Similarly, after entering the stomach of
the mind, the matters of faith that come through
knowledge are absorbed by the spirit, heart, inner heart,
soul, and other subtle faculties; each receives its share
according to its degree. If they do not receive their
share, faith is deficient. Muhyi'l-Din al-'Arabi was
reminding Fakhr al-Din Razi of this point.
from
The Twenty-Sixth Letter Fourth Matter The
Need for Renewal of Faith
ou
ask concerning the wisdom contained in [the Hadith]:
"Renew your belief by means of 'There is no god but
God.'"[13]
The wisdom in it has been mentioned in many of the Words and
one aspect of it is as follows: Since
man himself and the world in which he lives are being
continuously renewed, he needs constantly to renew his
faith. For in reality each individual human being
consists of many individuals. He may be considered a
different individual to the number of the years of his
life, or to the number of its days or even hours. For
since a single individual is subject to time, he is like
a model and each passing day clothes him in the form of
another individual.
Furthermore,
just as there is within man this plurality and renewal,
so also is the world in which he lives in motion. It goes
and is replaced by another. It varies constantly. Every
day opens the door of another world. As for faith, it is
both the light of the life of each individual in that
person, and it is the light of the world in which he
lives. And as for "There is no god but God," it
is a key with which to turn on the light. Then
the instinctual soul, desire, doubts, and Satan exercise
great influence over man. In order to damage his faith,
they are much of the time able to take advantage of his
negligence, to trick him with their wiles, and thus to
extinguish the light of belief with doubts and
uncertainty. Also, man is prone to act and utter words
which apparently oppose the Shari'a, and which in the
view of some religious authorities are no less then
unbelief. Therefore, there is a need to renew belief all
the time, every hour, every day. Question:
The masters of scholastic theology wrapped up the world
in the abbreviated concepts of contingency and
createdness and having disposed of it, so to speak,
proved divine unity. And one God's
presence at the highest degree, said: "There is no
existent but Him." They relegated the universe to
the level of imagination and cast it into nonexistence,
and then fully entered the divine presence. But you point
out that in the Qur'an is a mighty highway besides these
three ways. And you say that its mark is the phrases:
"There is nothing sought but Him," and,
"There is nothing worshipped but Him." Can you
show me a brief proof of the affirmation of divine unity
that this highway provides and point out a short way
leading to it? The
A n s w e r : All the Words and Letters in the Risale-i
Nur point out that highway. For now, as you wish, we
shall indicate concisely an extensive, lengthy and mighty
proof of it. Each
thing in the world ascribes every other thing to its own
Creator. And each artistically fashioned object in this
world demonstrates that all such objects are the works of
its own fashioner. And each creative act in the universe
proves that all creative acts are the acts .of its own
author. And each name that is manifested in beings
indicates that all names are the names and titles of the
one whom it itself signifies. That is to say, each
thing is a direct proof of divine unity and a window
yielding knowledge of God. Each
object, especially if it is animate, is a miniature
specimen of the universe, a seed of the world, and a
fruit of the globe of the earth. Since this is so, the
one who created the miniature specimen, seed and fruit
must also be the one who created the universe. For the
creator of the fruit cannot be other than the creator of
the tree that bears it. And
so, in the same way that each object ascribes all other
objects to its own fashioner, each act ascribes all other
acts to its author. For we see that each creative act
appears as the tip of a law of creativity that is so
extensive as to encompass most other creatures, and so
long as to reach from particles to galaxies. That is to
say, whoever performs the creative act must be the author
of all the creative acts which are tied to the universal
law that encompasses those beings and stretches from
particles to galaxies. For
sure, the one who gives life to a fly must be the one who
creates all insects and animals and who gives life to the
earth. And whoever spins particles as though they were
Mevlevi dervishes must be the one who sets successive
beings in motion as far as the sun travelling through the
skies with its planets. For the law is a chain and the
creative acts are tied to it. That
is to say, just as each object ascribes all other objects
to its fashioner, and each creative act attributes all
acts to its author, in exactly the same way, each divine
name manifested in the universe ascribes all names to the
One Whom it itself describes and proves that they are His
titles. For the names manifested in the universe are like
intersecting circles, blending with one another like
the seven colours in light; they assist one another and
perfect and adorn one another's works of art. For
example, the instant the name of Giver of Life is
manifested on a thing and life is given, the name of
All-Wise also becomes manifest; it orders the body which
is that animate creature's dwelling-place with wisdom. At
the same time, the name of Munificent is manifested; it
adorns the creature's dwelling-place. So too, the
manifestation of the name of All-Compassionate appears;
it presents the body's needs with tenderness. At the same
instant, the manifestation of the name of Provider
appears; it supplies the material and spiritual
sustenance necessary for the continued existence of the
animate creature in unexpected ways. And so on. That
means to whomever the name of Giver of Life belongs, the
name of All-Wise, which is luminous and comprehensive in
the universe, is also His. The name of
All-Compassionate, which nurtures all creatures with
tenderness, is also His. And the name of Provider, which
sustains all animate creatures with munificence, is His
name and title. And so on. That
is to say, each name, each act, each object is a proof of
divine unity, and such a proof that each is a stamp of
divine unity (vahdaniyet) and each is a seal of divine
oneness {ehadiyet) which has been inscribed on the pages
of the universe and on the lines of the centuries. Each
indicates that all the words of the universe, which are
called beings, are inscriptions traced by the pen of its
own scribe. O
God! Grant blessings to the one who said: "The best
thing I and the prophets before me liave said is, 'There
is no god but God.'"[14]
and to his Family and Companions, and grant them peace.
from
The Twenty-Sixth Letter Ninth Matter About
Sainthood [An
important, confidential matter, and a mystery related to
sainthood.]
he
largest group in the World of Islam, the people of truth
and moderation, called the Ahl al-Sunna wa'l-Jama'at or
Sunnis, have preserved the truths of the Qur'an and
belief by following to the letter the illustrious
practices (T. siinnet; At. sunna) of the Prophet (PBUH)
within the bounds of moderation. The great majority of
the saints have emerged from within this sphere. Others
have appeared outside it and on a path opposed to some of
the Sunnis' principles and rules. Observers of this
latter group of saints have divided into two groups: One
group has denied their sainthood because they oppose the
Sunnis' principles. It has even gone so far as to declare
some of them unbelievers. The
other group consists of their followers. They accept
their sainthood and say: "The truth is not
restricted
to the Sunnis' way." They have formed a group of
innovators and have taken the path of misguidance. They
do not know that: Everyone who is rightly-guided cannot
be a guide. Their shaikhs are to be excused for their
mistakes because they are ecstatics, but their followers
cannot be excused. As
for the middle group, they do not deny the saints'
sainthood, but do not accept their ways and paths. They
say: "Any things they say that are opposed to the
principles (of religion] are either metaphorical
utterances the meaning of which is not known, or they
[the saints] are in error, being overcome by their
mental states." Unfortunately,
intending to protect the Siihni way, the first group, and
especially literalist scholars, have denied saints of
great importance and been compelled to accuse them of
misguidance. While the saints' supporters, which form the
second group, have abandoned the right path due to their
excessive good will towards shaikhs of that sort; they
have fallen into innovation, and even misguidance. In
connection with this, for a long time a matter
preoccupied my mind: at a crucial time I execrated a
group of the people of misguidance. Then an awesome
collective strength arose in the face of my malediction;
it both turned it back on me and prevented me repeating
it. Then
I saw that facilitated by a collective strength in its
wrongful activities, that group of the people of
misguidance was dragging the people along behind it. It
was being successful. This was not due to compulsion
alone: since it had combined with a desire aroused by the
power of sainthood, some of the believers were being
carried away by it; they looked on the group favourably
and did not consider it to be too bad. I
took fright when I perceived these two secrets.
"Glory be to God!" I exclaimed, "can there
be a sainthood other than that of the true way? Would the
people of reality (ehl-i hakikat) support such a
terrible current of misguidance?" Then one blessed
Day of 'Arafat, following a praiseworthy Islamic
practice, I recited Sura al-Ikhlas hundreds of times
and through its blessings, the matter entitled
"Answer to an Important Question" was imparted
to my impotent heart, together with the following
truth, through divine mercy: As
is told in the well-known, meaningful story of Jibali
Baba, which dates from the time of Sultan Mehmed the
Conqueror, some saints are in a state of ecstasy while
appearing to be rational and reasonable. Others appear
to be sober and in command of their reasoning faculties,
and sometimes they enter a state outside this. One class
of this sort are confused and cannot distinguish between
things. They apply a matter they see while in a state of
intoxication to things after they have returned to a
state of sobriety. They are then in error but do not
realize it. Some ecstatics are preserved by God and do
not enter misguidance on their spiritual journeying.
But others are
not
preserved, and may be found in the sects following
innovation and misguidance. They have even been held to
be unbelievers. Thus,
because they are temporarily or permanently in a state
of ecstasy, they resemble "blessed lunatics."
And because they resemble them, they are not responsible.
And because they are not responsible, they are not
punishable. On their ecstatic sainthood persisting,
they come to support the people of misguidance and
innovation; they spread their ways to an extent, and
inauspiciously cause some believers and people of truth
to enter them.
from
The Twenty-Sixth Letter Tenth Matter
Principles
for Bediuzzaman Said Nursi's Visitors [It
was requested by some friends that a principle concerning
visitors be explained. That is the reason this was
written.] It
should be known that those who visit me either come in
respect of worldly life, and that door is closed; or they
come in respect of the life of the hereafter, and in that
respect there are two doors: either they come supposing
my person to be blessed and to possess high spiritual
rank, and that door is closed too. For I do not like
myself and I do not like people who like me. All thanks
be to Almighty God that He did not make me like myself.
Or they come purely in respect of my being a herald of
the All-Wise Qur'an. I willingly accept anyone who enters
by this door. Such people are of three sorts: they are
either friends, or brothers, or students. The
characteristics of friends, and conditions
of
their friendship: They have to earnestly support our work
and service connected with the Words and the lights of
the Qur'an. They should not support injustice,
innovations, or misguidance in heartfelt fashion. They
should themselves try to profit from the Words. The
characteristics of brothers, and conditions of their
brotherhood: Together with truly and earnestly working
to disseminate the Words, they should perform the five
obligatory prayers and not commit the seven grievous
sins. The
characteristics of students, and conditions of their
studentship: To feel as though the Words are their own
property written by themselves, and to know their vital
duty, their life's work, to be the service and
dissemination of them. These
three levels are connected with my three personalities. A
friend is connected with my individual, essential
personality. A brother is connected with the personality
that springs from my worship and bondsmanship of Almighty
God. And a student is connected with the personality that
undertakes the duties of herald of the Wise Qur'an and
teacher. Such
meetings yield three fruits: The
First: In regard to being herald, it is to receive
instruction about the jewels of the Qur'an from either
myself or the Words. Even if it is only a single lesson. The
Second: In respect of worship, it is to have a share of
my gains of the hereafter. The
Third: It is to turn together towards the If
a student, every morning he is with me in name and
sometimes also in imagination, and he receives a share. If
a brother, he is several times together with me with his
particular name and form in my supplications and gains,
and he receives a share. Then he is included among all
the brothers, and I hand him over to divine mercy so that
when I say "my brothers and sisters" in
prayer, he is among them. If I do not know them, divine
mercy knows them and sees them. If
a friend who performs the obligatory prayers and gives up
grievous sins, he is included in my prayers together with
all the brothers. My condition is that all three
categories include me in their supplications and
spiritual gains. O
God! Grant blessings to the one who said: "The
believer is to the believer like a well-founded building,
with one part strengthening the other,"[15]
and to his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. Glory
be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You
have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing,
All-Wise!2 And
they shall say: "Praise be to God, Who has guided us
to this [felicity]; never could we have found guidance,
had it not been for the guidance of God; indeed it was
the truth that the Messengers of our Sustainer brought
to us!"3 0 God, Who responded to Noah
among his people, * And helped Abraham before his
enemies, * And returned Joseph to Jacob, * And raised
Job's suffering from him, * And answered the prayer of
Zakariya, * And responded to Jonah b. Matta; we implore
You through the mystery of those who offered these
answered prayers that You preserve me and those who
disseminate these treatises and their companions from the
evil of satans among jinn and men, and help us in the
face of our enemies, and do not leave us to our own
devices, and remove our anxieties and their anxieties,
and heal the sicknesses of our hearts and of their
hearts. Amen. Amen. Amen.
from
The Twenty-Eighth Letter Third Matter Announcing
"the Wares of a Qur'anic Shop" [This
Matter consists of a private and particular answer to a
general question asked by most of my brothers through the
tongue of disposition, and by some of them verbally.]
Que
stion : You say to everyone who visits you: "Don't
expect any saintly intervention from me and don't think
of my person
as
being blessed. I possess no spiritual rank. Like a common
soldier may convey orders coming from the rank of field
marshal, I convey the orders of just such a rank. And
like a bankrupt may advertise the precious diamonds of a
jeweller's shop, I announce the wares of a sacred,
Qur'anic shop." However, our hearts require an
effulgence in the same way that our minds need knowledge,
and our spirits require a light, and so on; we want many
things in many respects. We come to visit you supposing
you to be the person who will meet our needs. What we
need
is
a saint, someone with saintly influence, someone of
spiritual attainment, rather than a scholar. If the
matter is really as you say, then perhaps we were wrong
in visiting you? They ask this through the tongue of
disposition. The
Answer: Listen to the following five points, then think
about them and judge whether your visits are pointless or
beneficial. FIRST
POINT The
common servant or wretched soldier of a king gives some
generals and pashas royal gifts and decorations in the
name of the king, and makes them grateful. If the
generals and pashas say: "Why do we lower ourselves
before this common soldier and accept these gifts and
bounties from him?", it would be arrogant
foolishness. The soldier too, if, outside his duty, he
does not stand up before the field marshal and
recognize him to be superior to himself, it would be
stupid folly. If one of the grateful generals gratefully
condescends to visit the soldier's humble dwelling, the
king, who sees and knows of the situation, will send
dishes from the royal kitchen for his loyal servant's
eminent guest, so the soldier will not be shamed by
having nothing to offer but dry bread. Similarly,
however lowly he may be, a loyal servant of the
All-Wise Qur'an conveys its commands unhesitatingly and
in its name to even the loftiest of people. With pride
and independence, not abasing himself or begging, he
sells the Qur'an's precious diamonds to persons who are
rich in spirit. However lofty they are, they should not
be arrogant towards the common servant while he is
performing his duty. And if they apply to him for
something, the servant should not feel proud about it
either, and get above himself. If some of the customers
for the sacred treasure regard the wretched servant as a
saint and consider him to be exalted, certainly it is the
mark of the Qur'anic truth's sacred compassion to send
them assistance, succour, and enlightenment from the
divine treasury, without the servant being aware of this
or intervening, in order not to shame him. SECOND
POINT Imam-i
Rabbani, the Regenerator of the Second Millennium, Ahmad
Faruqi (May God be pleased with him), said: "In my
opinion, the unfolding and clarification of a single of
the truths of belief is preferable to thousands of
illuminations and instances of wonder-working. Moreover,
the aim and result of all the Sufi paths are the
unfolding and clarification of those truths." Since
a champion of Sufism like Imam-i Rabbani made such a
pronouncement, surely the Words, which expound the truths
of belief with perfect clarity and proceed from the
mysteries of the Qur'an, may yield the results sought
from sainthood. THIRD
POINT Thirty
years ago dreadful blows descended on the heedless head
of the Old Said and he pondered over the saying
"Death is a reality." He saw himself in a muddy
swamp. He sought help, searched for a way, tried to find
a saviour. The ways were many and he was hesitant. So he
took an omen from the work Futuh al-Ghayb by Gawth
al-A'zam, Shaikh Gilani (May God be pleased with him). It
opened at these lines: "You
are in the Dar al-Hikma, so find a doctor who will heal
your heart." It
was strange, but at that time I was a member of the
Darii'l-Hikmeti'l-islamiye. I was as though a doctor
trying to heal the wounds of the people of Islam, but was
sicker than they. A sick person should look to himself
first, then look to others. The
Shaikh was saying to me: "You yourself are sick;
find a doctor for yourself." So I said: "You be
my doctor!" I took him as my doctor and read the
book as though it were addressing me. But it was most
severe; it smashed my pride in a truly fearsome manner.
It carried out drastic surgery on my soul. I could not
stand it. I read half of it as though it were addressing
me, but did not have the strength and endurance to finish
it. I put it back on the shelf. Then a week later the
pain of that curative operation subsided, and I felt
pleasure instead. I again opened the book and read it
right through; I benefited a lot from it, that book of my
first master. I listened to his prayers and
supplications, and profited abundantly. Then
I saw the Maktubat {Letters) of Imam-i Rabbani and took
it up. I opened it purely to take an omen. It was
strange, but in the whole of Maktubat, the word
Bediuzzaman appears only twice, and those two letters
fell open for me at once. I saw that written at the head
of them was: "Letter to Mirza Bediuzzaman," and
my father's name was Mirza. "Glory be to God!"
I exclaimed, "these letters are addressing me."
At that time the Old Said was also known as Bediuzzaman.
Apart from Bediuzzaman Hamadani, I knew of no one in the
last three hundred years famous with the name. Whereas
in the Imam's time there was such a person and he wrote
him these two letters. His condition must have been
similar to mine, for I found that the letters were the
cure for my ills. Only, the Imam persistently
recommended in many of his letters what he wrote in
these two, which was: "Make your qibla one."
That is, take one person as your master and follow him;
do not concern yourself with anyone else. This
most important recommendation did not seem appropriate to
my disposition and mental state. However much I pondered
over which of them to follow, I remained perplexed and
confused. They all had different qualities that drew me;
one was not enough. While thus bewildered, it was
imparted to my heart by God's mercy that "the head
of these various ways and the source of these streams
and the sun of these planets is the All-Wise Qur'an; the
true single qibla is to be found in it. In which case, it
is also the most elevated guide and most holy
master." So I clasped it with both hands and clung
on to it. Of course with my deficient, wretched abilities
I could not absorb the effulgence - like the water of
life - of that true guide as was its due, but still,
through it, we can show that effulgence, that water of
life, according to the degree of those who receive it,
those who perceive the truth with their hearts and attain
to certain spiritual states. That is to say, the Words and
those lights, which proceed from the Qur'an, are not only
scholarly matters that address the intellect, they are
matters of belief that look to the heart, the spirit, and
spiritual states. They resemble most elevated, valuable
knowledge of God. FOURTH
POINT All
the subtle inner faculties of those of the Companions
and of the following two generations who possessed the
very highest degree of the greater sainthood received
their share from the Qur'an itself, and for them, the
Qur'an was the true guide and sufficient for them. This
shows that just as the All-Wise Qur'an states realities,
so too it emanates the effulgences of the greater
sainthood to those capable of receiving them. Yes,
there are two ways of passing from the apparent to
reality: One
is to enter the intermediate realm of Sufism, and to
reach reality by traversing the degrees through spiritual
journeying. The
That
is to say, the lights which issue from the truths of the
Qur'an, and the Words, which interpret those lights, may
possess those qualities, and do possess them. FIFTH
POINT We
shall demonstrate through five small examples that the Words
both teach the realities, and perform the function of
guidance. First
E x a m p 1 e : I myself have formed the conviction
through experiencing, not ten or a hundred times, but
thousands of times, that just as the lights proceeding
from the Words and the Qur'an give instruction to my
mind, so do they induce a state of belief in my heart and
produce the pleasure of belief in my spirit, and so on.
The same goes for the matters of this world: just as the
follower of a wonder-working shaikh awaits saintly
assistance from him in answering his needs, so I have
awaited from the wondrous mysteries of the All-Wise
Qur'an that they answer my needs, and this has been
achieved for me on numerous occasions in ways I had not
hoped or anticipated. The following are only two minor
examples: The
First: As is described in detail in the Sixteenth
Letter, a large loaf of bread appeared in an
extraordinary way to a guest of mine called Siileyman,
at the top of a cedar tree. For two days, the two of us
fed off that gift from the Unseen. The
Second Example: I shall recount a very insignificant yet
subtle incident that occurred recently. It was this: Before
dawn, the thought came to me that some things had been
said about me in a way that would cast suspicion into
someone's heart. I said to myself: If only I had seen the
person and had dispelled that unease from his heart. At
that moment, I needed part of one of my books which had
been sent to Second
Example: My nephew, the late Abdurrahman, had a much
higher opinion of me personally than was my due,
despite his having parted from me eight years previously
and having been tainted by the heedlessness and worries
of the world. He wanted such help from me that I did not
have and could not give. But the All-Wise Qur'an's
saintly influence came to his assistance: the Tenth Word
about the resurrection of the dead came into his
possession three months before his death. It cleansed him
of his spiritual dirt and doubts and heedlessness. Quite
simply as though he had risen to the degree of sainthood,
he displayed three clear instances of wonder-working in
the letter he wrote me before he died. It is included
among the pieces of the Twenty-Seventh Letter, and may be
referred to. Third
Example: I had a brother of the hereafter and student who
was one of those who approach reality with their hearts',
called Hasan Efendi from Burdur. He had an excessively
good opinion of me, far better than I deserved, and
expected assistance from this unfortunate one as though
awaiting the grace and influence of a great saint.
Suddenly, in completely unrelated fashion, I gave the
Thirty-Second Word to someone to study who lived in one
of the villages of Burdur. Later I remembered Hasan
Efendi and I said: "If you go to Burdur, give it to
Hasan Efendi, and let him peruse it for five or six
days." The man went straight away and gave it to
Hasan Efendi. It was only thirty or forty days till his
death. Like a man suffering terrible thirst casts
himself on the sweet water of Kaw-thar, he cast himself
on the Thirty-Second Word. He studied it continuously and
received its effulgence, especially the discussion on the
love of God in the Third Stopping-Place, till he was
completely cured of his ills. He found in it the
enlightenment he would have expected from the greatest
spiritual pole. He went to the mosque in good health,
performed the prayer, and there surrendered his spirit
to the Most Merciful. (May God have mercy on him.) Fourth
Example: As is testified to by Hulusi Bey's piece in the
Twenty-Seventh Letter, he found in the light-filled Words,
which interpret the mysteries of the Qur'an, assistance
and succour, effulgence and light greater than in the
Naqshi way, the most important and influential Sufi
order. Fifth
Example: My brother Abdulmecid suffered terribly at the
death of Abdurrahman (May God have mercy on him) and at
other grievous events. He also awaited from me assistance
and influence I was unable to give. I was not
corresponding with him. Suddenly I sent him some of the
most important of the Words. After studying them, he
wrote to me and said: "Praise be to God, I have been
saved! I would have gone mad. Each of those Words has
become like a spiritual guide for me. I had parted from
one guide, but I suddenly found lots of guides at once,
and I was saved." I realized that truly Abdiil mecid
had embarked on a good way and had been saved from his
former difficulties. There are numerous other examples like these five which show that if the scien |