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Nineteenth Word [About
the Messengership of Muhammad (PBUH)] I
could not praise Muhammad with my words; rather, my words
were made praiseworthy by Muhammad. Yes,
this Word is beautiful, but what makes it so is the most
beautiful of all things, the attributes and qualities of
Muhammad (PBUH). Also
being the Fourteenth Flash, this Word consists of
fourteen ‘Droplets.’ ·
FIRST DROPLET There
are three great and universal things which make known to
us our Sustainer. One is the book of the universe, a jot
of whose testimony we have heard from the thirteen
Flashes together with the Thirteenth Word of the Risale-i
Nur. Another is the Seal of the Prophets (Peace and
blessings be upon him), the supreme sign of the book of
the universe. The other is the Qur’an of Mighty
Stature. Now we must become acquainted with the Seal of
the Prophets (PBUH), who is the second and articulate
proof, and must listen to him. Yes,
consider the collective personality of this proof: the
face of the earth has become his mosque, The
Words / Nineteenth Word - p.244 ·
SECOND DROPLET Just
as that luminous proof of Divine unity is affirmed by the
unanimity and consensus of those two wings, so do
hundreds of indications in the revealed scriptures, like
the Torah and Bible,1 and the thousands of
signs that appeared before the beginning of his mission,
and the well-known news given by the voices from the
Unseen and the unanimous testimony of the soothsayers,
the indications of the thousands of his miracles like the
Splitting of the Moon, and the justice of Shari‘a all
confirm and corroborate him. So too, in his person, his
laudable morals, which were at the summit of perfection;
and in his duties, his complete confidence and elevated
qualities, which were of the highest excellence, and his
extraordinary fear of God, worship, seriousness, and
fortitude, which demonstrated the strength of his belief,
and his total certainty and his complete steadfastness, -
these all show as clearly as the sun how utterly faithful
he was to his cause. ·
THIRD DROPLET If
you wish, come! Let us go to ·
FOURTH DROPLET See!
He spreads such a Light of truth that if you look at the
universe as being outside the luminous sphere of his
truth and guidance, you see it to be like a place of
general mourning, and beings strangers to one another and
hostile, and inanimate beings to be like ghastly corpses
and living creatures like orphans weeping at the blows of
death and separation. Now look! Through the Light he
spreads, that place of universal mourning has been
transformed into a place where God’s Names and praises
are recited in joy and ecstasy. The foreign, hostile
beings have become friends and brothers. While the dumb,
dead inanimate creatures have all become familiar
officials and docile servants. And the weeping,
complaining orphans are seen to be ____________________ 1.
In his Risale-i Hamidiye, Husayn Jisri extracted
one hundred and fourteen indications from those
scriptures. If this many have remained after the texts
have become corrupted, there were surely many explicit
mentions before The
Words / Nineteenth Word - p.245 ·
FIFTH DROPLET Also,
through his Light, the motion and movement of the
universe, and its variations, changes and transformations
cease being meaningless, futile, and the playthings of
chance; they rise to being dominical missives, pages
inscribed with the signs of creation, mirrors to the
Divine Names, and the world itself becomes a book of the
Eternally Besought One’s wisdom. Man’s boundless
weakness and impotence make him inferior to all other
animals and his intelligence, an instrument for conveying
grief, sorrow, and sadness, makes him more wretched, yet
when he is illumined with that Light, he rises above all
animals and all creatures. Through entreaty, his
illuminated impotence, poverty, and intelligence make him
a petted monarch; due to his complaints, he becomes a
spoiled vicegerent of the earth. That is to say, if it
was not for his Light, the universe and man, and all
things, would be nothing. Yes, certainly such a person is
necessary in such a wondrous universe; otherwise the
universe and firmaments would not be in existence. ·
SIXTH DROPLET Thus,
that Being brings and announces the good news of eternal
happiness; he is the discoverer and proclaimer of an
infinite mercy, the herald and observer of the beauties
of the sovereignty of dominicality, and the discloser and
displayer of the treasures of the Divine Names. If you
regard him in that way, that is in regard to his being a
worshipful servant of God, you will see him to be the
model of love, the exemplar of mercy, the glory of
mankind, and the most luminous fruit of the tree of
creation. While if you look in this way, that is, in
regard to his Messengership, you see him to be the proof
of God, the lamp of truth, the sun of guidance, and the
means to happiness. And look! His Light has lighted up
from east to west like dazzling lightning, and half the
earth and a fifth of mankind has accepted the gift of his
guidance and preserved it like life itself. So how is it
that our evil-commanding souls and satans do not accept
with all its degrees, the basis of all such a Being
claimed, that is, There is no god but God? ·
SEVENTH DROPLET Now,
consider how, eradicating in no time at all their evil,
savage customs and habits to which they were fanatically
attached, he decked out the various wild, unyielding
peoples of that broad peninsula with all the finest
virtues, and made them teachers of all the world and
masters to the civilized nations. See, it was not an
outward domination, he conquered and subjugated their
minds, spirits, hearts, and souls. He became the beloved
of hearts, the teacher of minds, the trainer of souls,
the ruler of spirits.
The
Words / Nineteenth Word - p.246 ·
EIGHTH DROPLET You
know that a small habit like cigarette smoking among a
small nation can be removed permanently only by a
powerful ruler with great effort. But look! This Being
removed numerous ingrained habits from intractable,
fanatical large nations with slight outward power and
little effort in a short period of time, and in their
place he so established exalted qualities that they
became as firm as if they had mingled with their very
blood. He achieved very many extraordinary feats like
this. Thus, we present the Arabian Peninsula as a
challenge to those who refuse to see the testimony of the
blessed age of the Prophet. Let them each take a hundred
philosophers, go there, and strive for a hundred years;
would they be able to carry out in that time one
hundredth of what he achieved in a year? ·
NINTH DROPLET Also,
you know that an insignificant man of small standing
among a small community in a disputed matter of small
importance cannot tell a small but shameful lie
brazen-faced and without fear without displaying anxiety
or disquiet enough to inform the enemies at his side of
his deception. Now look at that Being; although he
undertook a tremendous task which required an official of
great authority and great standing and a situation of
great security, can any contradiction at all be found in
the words he uttered among a community of great size in
the face of great hostility concerning a great cause and
matters of great significance, with great ease and
freedom, without fear, hesitation, diffidence, or
anxiety, with pure sincerity, great seriousness, and in
an intense, elevated manner that angered his enemies? Is
it at all possible that any trickery should have been
involved? God forbid! It is naught but Revelation
inspired.2 The truth does not deceive, and
one who perceives the truth is not deceived. His way,
which is truth, is free of deception. How could a fancy
appear to one who sees the truth to be the truth, and
deceive him? ·
TENTH DROPLET Now,
look! What curiosity-arousing, attractive, necessary, and
awesome truths he shows, what matters he proves! You
know that what impels man most is curiosity. Even, if it
was to be said to you: “If you give half of your life
and property, someone will come from the Moon and Jupiter
and tell you all about them. He will also tell you the
truth about your future and what will happen to you,”
you would be bound to give them if you have any curiosity
at all. Whereas that Being tells of a Monarch Who is such
that in His realm, the Moon flies round a moth like a
fly, and the moth, the earth, flutters round a lamp, and
the lamp, the sun, is merely one lamp among thousands in
one guest-house out of thousands of that Monarch. ___________________ 2.
Qur’an, 53:4. The
Words / Nineteenth Word - p.247 ·
ELEVENTH DROPLET For
sure, wonders await us under the apparent veil of the
universe which is thus strange and perplexing. So one
thus wonderful and extraordinary, a displayer of marvels,
is necessary to tell of its wonders. It is apparent from
that Being’s conduct that he has seen them, and sees
them, and says that he has seen them. And he instructs us
most soundly concerning what the God of the heavens and
the earth, Who nurtures us with His bounties, wants and
desires of us. Everyone should therefore leave everything
and run to and heed this Being who teaches numerous other
necessary and curiosity-arousing truths like these, so
how is it that most people are deaf and blind, and mad
even, so that they do not see this truth, and they do not
listen to it and understand it? ·
TWELFTH DROPLET Thus,
just as this Being is an articulate proof and true
evidence at the degree of the veracity of the unity of
the Creator of beings, so is he a decisive proof and
clear evidence for the resurrection of the dead and
eternal happiness. Yes, with his guidance he is the
reason for eternal happiness coming about and is the
means of attaining it; so too through his prayers and
supplications, he is the cause of its existence and
reason for its creation. We repeat here this mystery,
which is mentioned in the Tenth Word, due to its
‘station’. See!
This Being prays with a prayer so supreme that it is as
if the Arabian Peninsula and the earth itself performs
the prayers through his sublime prayer, and offers
entreaties. See, he also entreats in a congregation so
vast that it is as if all the luminous and perfected
members of mankind from the time of Adam till our age and
until the end of time, are following him and saying
“Amen” to his supplications. And see! He is
beseeching for a need so universal that not only the
dwellers of the earth, but also those of the heavens, and
all beings, join in his prayer, declaring: “Yes! O our
Sustainer! ____________________ 3.
Qur’an, 81:1. 4.
Qur’an, 82:1. 5.
Qur’an, 101:1.
The
Words / Nineteenth Word - p.248 And
see! The purpose and aim of his prayer is such it raises
man and the world, and all creatures, from the lowest of
the low, from inferiority, worthlessness, and uselessness
to the highest of the high; that is to having value,
permanence, and exalted duties. And see! He seeks and
pleads for help and mercy in a manner so elevated and
sweet, it is as if he makes all beings and the heavens
and the earth hear, and bringing them to ecstasy, to
exclaim: “Amen, O our God! Amen!” And see! He seeks
his needs from One so Powerful, Hearing, and Munificent,
One so Knowing, Seeing, and Compassionate, that He sees
and hears the most secret need of the most hidden living
being and its entreaties, accepts them, and has mercy on
it. For He gives what is asked for, if only through the
tongue of disposition. And He gives it in so Wise,
Seeing, and Compassionate a form that it leaves no doubt
that that nurturing and regulation is particular to the
All-Hearing and All-Seeing One, the Most Generous and
Most Compassionate One. ·
THIRTEENTH DROPLET What
does he want, this pride of the human race, who taking
behind him all the eminent of mankind, stands on top of
the world, and raising up his hand, is praying? What is
this unique being, who is truly the glory of the cosmos,
seeking? Listen! He is seeking eternal happiness. He is
asking for eternal life, and to meet with God. He wants
Paradise. And he wants all the Sacred Divine Names, which
display their beauty and decrees in the mirrors of
beings. Even, if it were not for reasons for the
fulfilment of those countless requests, like mercy,
grace, wisdom, and justice, a single of that Being’s
prayers would have been sufficient for the construction
of Paradise, the creation of which is as easy for Divine
power as the creation of the spring. Yes, just as his
Messengership was the reason for the opening of this
place of examination and trial, so too his worship and
servitude to God were the reason for the opening of the
next world. Would
the perfect order observed in the universe, which has
caused scholars and the intelligent to pronounce: “It
is not possible for there to be anything better than what
exists;” and the faultless beauty of art within mercy,
the incomparable beauty of dominicality, - would these
permit the ugliness, the cruelty, the lack of order of
its hearing and responding to the least significant, the
least important desires and voices, and its considering
unimportant the most important, the most necessary
wishes, and its not hearing them or understanding them,
and not carrying them out? God forbid! A hundred thousand
times, God forbid! Such a beauty would not permit such an
ugliness; it would not become ugly. The
Words / Nineteenth Word - p.249 Now,
come! We shall look at the centuries, which will turn
above us. See how each has opened like a flower through
the effulgence it has received from that Sun of Guidance!
They have produced millions of enlightened fruits like
Abu Hanifa, Shafi‘i, Abu Bayazid Bistami, Shah Geylani,
Shah Naqshband, Imam Ghazzali, and Imam Rabbani. But
postponing the details of our observations to another
time, we must recite some benedictions for that displayer
of miracles and bringer of guidance, which mention a
number of his certain miracles: Endless
peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad, to the
number of the good deeds of his community, to whom was
revealed the All-Wise Criterion of Truth and Falsehood,
from One Most Merciful, Most Compassionate, from the
Sublime Throne; whose Messengership was foretold by the
Torah and Bible, and told of by wondrous signs, the
voices of jinn, saints of man, and soothsayers; at whose
indication the moon split; our master Muhammad! Peace and
blessings be upon him thousands and thousands of times,
to the number of the breaths of his community; at whose
beckoning came the tree, on whose prayer rain swiftly
fell; and whom the cloud shaded from the heat; who
satisfied a hundred men with his food; from between whose
fingers three times flowed water like the Spring of
Kawthar; and to whom God made speak the lizard, the
gazelle, the wolf, the torso, the arm, the camel, the
mountain, the rock, and the clod; the one who made the
Ascension and whose eye did not waver; our master and
intercessor, Muhammad! Peace and blessings be upon him
thousands and thousands of times, to the number of the
letters of the Qur’an formed in the words, represented
with the permission of the Most Merciful in the mirrors
of the airwaves, at the reciting of all the Qur’an’s
words by all reciters from when it was first revealed to
the end of time. And grant us forgiveness and have mercy
on us, O God, for each of those blessings. Amen. [I
have described the Evidences for the Prophethood of
Muhammad (PBUH) which I have here indicated briefly in a
Turkish treatise called Suaât-i Mârifeti’n-Nebi
and in the Nineteenth Letter (The Miracles of Muhammad).
And there too aspects of the All-Wise Qur’an’s
miraculousness have been mentioned briefly. Again, in a
Turkish treatise called Lemeât and in the
Twenty-Fifth Word (The Miraculousness of the Qur’an) I
have explained concisely forty ways in which the Qur’an
is a miracle, and indicated forty aspects of its
miraculousness. And of those The
Words / Nineteenth Word - p.250 ·
FOURTEENTH DROPLET The
All-Wise Qur’an, the treasury of miracles and supreme
miracle, proves the Prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH)
together with Divine unity so decisively that it leaves
no need for further proof. And we shall give its
definition and indicate one or two flashes of its
miraculousness which have been the cause of criticism. The
All-Wise Qur’an, which makes known to us our Sustainer,
is thus: it is the pre-eternal translator of the great
book of the universe; the discloser of the treasures of
the Divine Names concealed in the pages of the earth and
the heavens; the key to the truths hidden beneath these
lines of events; the treasury of the favours of the Most
Merciful and pre-eternal addresses, which come forth from
the World of the Unseen beyond the veil of this Manifest
World; the sun, foundation, and plan of the spiritual
world of Islam, and the map of the worlds of the
hereafter; the distinct expounder, lucid exposition,
articulate proof, and clear translator of the Divine
Essence, attributes, and deeds; the instructor, true
wisdom, guide, and leader of the world of humanity; it is
both a book of wisdom and law, and a book of prayer and
worship, and a book of command and summons, and a book of
invocation and Divine knowledge - it is book for all
spiritual needs; and it is a sacred library offering
books appropriate to the ways of all the saints and
veracious, the purified and the scholars, whose ways and
paths are all different. Consider
the flashes of miraculousness in its repetitions, which
are imagined to be a fault: since the Qur’an is both a
book of invocation, and a book of prayer, and a book of
summons, the repetition in it is desirable, indeed, it is
essential and most eloquent. It is not as the faulty
imagine. For the mark of invocation is illumination
through repetition. The mark of prayer is strengthening
through repetition. The mark of command and summons is
confirmation through repetition. Moreover, everyone is
not capable of always reading the whole Qur’an, but is
mostly able to read one Sura. Therefore, since the most
important purposes of the Qur’an are included in most
of the longer Suras, each is like a small Qur’an. That
is to say, so that no one should be deprived, certain of
its aims like Divine unity, the resurrection of the dead,
and the story of Moses, have been repeated. Also, like
bodily needs, spiritual needs are various. Man is need of
some of them every breath; like the body needs air, the
spirit needs the word Hu (He). Some he is in need
of every hour, like “In the Name of God.” And so on.
That means the repetition of verses arises from the
repetition of need. It makes the The
Words / Nineteenth Word - p.251 Also,
the Qur’an is a founder; it is the basis of the Clear
Religion, and the foundation of the world of Islam. It
changed human social life, and is the answer to the
repeated questions of its various classes. Repetition is
necessary for a founder in order to establish things.
Repetition is necessary to corroborate them. Confirmation
and repetition are necessary to strengthen them. Also,
it speaks of such mighty matters and minute truths that
numerous repetitions are necessary in different forms in
order to establish them in everyone’s hearts.
Nevertheless, they are apparently repetitions, but in
reality every verse has numerous meanings, numerous
benefits, and many aspects and levels. In each place they
are mentioned with a different meaning, for different
benefits and purposes. Also,
the Qur’an’s being unspecific and concise in certain
matters to do with cosmos is a flash of miraculousness
for the purpose of guidance. It cannot be the target of
criticism and is not a fault, like some atheists imagine. If
you ask: “Why does the All-Wise Qur’an not
speak of beings in the same way as philosophy and
science? It leaves some matters in brief form, and some
it speaks of in a simple and superficial way that is easy
in the general view, does not wound general feelings, and
does not weary or tax the minds of ordinary people. Why
is this?” By
way of answer we say: Philosophy has strayed from
the path of truth, that’s why. Also, of course you have
understood from past Words and what they teach that the
All-Wise Qur’an speaks of the universe in order to make
known the Divine Essence, attributes, and Names. That is,
it explains the meanings of the book of the universe to
make known its Creator. That means it looks at beings,
not for themselves, but for their Creator. Also, it
addresses everyone. But philosophy and science look at
beings for themselves, and address scientists in
particular. In which case, since the All-Wise Qur’an
makes beings evidences and proofs, the evidence has to be
superficial so that it will be quickly understood in the
general view. And since the Qur’an of Guidance
addresses all classes of men, the ordinary people, which
form the most numerous class, want guidance which is
concise with unnecessary things beings vague, and which
brings subtle things close with comparisons, and which
does not change things which in their superficial view
are obvious into an unnecessary or even harmful form,
lest it causes them to fall into error. For
example, it says about the sun: “The sun is a revolving
lamp or lantern.” For it does not speak of the sun for
itself and its nature, but because it is a sort of
mainspring of an order and centre of a system, and order
and system are mirrors of the Maker’s skill. It says: The
Words / Nineteenth Word - p.252 that
is, the sun revolves. Through calling to mind the orderly
disposals of Divine power in the revolutions of winter
and summer, and day and night with the phrase, The sun
revolves, it makes understood the Maker’s
tremendousness. Thus, whatever the reality of this
revolving, it does not affect the order, which is woven
and observed, and which is the purpose. It also says, And
set the sun as a lamp.7 Through
depicting through the word lamp the world in the form of
a palace, and the things within it as decorations,
necessities, and provisions prepared for man and living
beings, and inferring that the sun is also a subjugated
candleholder, it makes known the mercy and bestowal of
the Creator. Now look and see what this foolish and
prattling philosophy says: “The
sun is a vast burning liquid mass. It causes the planets
which have been flung off from it to revolve around it.
Its mass is such-and-such. It is this, it is that.” It
does not afford the spirit the satisfaction and
fulfilment of true knowledge, just a terrible dread and
fearful wonder. It does not speak of it as the Qur’an
does. You may understand from this the value of the
matters of philosophy, whose inside is hollow and
outside, ostentatious. So do not be deceived by its
glittering exterior and be disrespectful towards the most
miraculous expositions of the Qur’an! O
God! Make the Qur’an healing for us, the writer of this
and his peers, from all ills, and a companion to us and
to them in our lives and after our deaths, and in this
world, and in the grave, and at the Last Judgement an
intercessor, and on the Bridge a light, and from the Fire
a screen and shield, and in Paradise a friend, and in all
good deeds a guide and leader, through Your grace and
munificence and beneficence and mercy, O Most Munificent
of the Munificent and Most Merciful of the Merciful!
Amen. O
God! Grant blessings and peace to the one to whom the
All-Wise Qur’an, the Distinguisher between Truth and
Falsehood, was re-vealed, and to all his Family and
Companions. Amen. Amen. [NOTE:
The Six Drops of the Fourteenth Droplet in the Arabic
Risale-i Nur, and especially the Six Points of the Fourth
Drop, explain fifteen of the approximately forty sorts of
the All-Wise Qur’an’s miraculousness. Deeming those
to be sufficient, we have limited the discussion here. If
you wish, refer to them, and you will find a treasury of
miracles...] ____________________ 6.
Qur’an, 36:38. |
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