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| gencnurCom | The Twenty-Sixth Word THE TREATISE ON DIVINE DETERMINING In the Name of God, the Merciful,
the Compassionate. [Divine Determining3 and
the power of choice4 are two important
matters. We shall attempt to disclose a few of their
mysteries in four ‘Topics’.] FIRST TOPIC Divine Determining and the power of
choice are aspects of a belief pertaining to state and
conscience which show the final limits of Islam and
belief; they are not theoretical and do not pertain to
knowledge. That is to say, a believer attributes
everything to Almighty God, even his actions and self,
till finally the power of choice confronts him, so he
cannot evade his obligation and responsibility. It tells
him: “You are responsible and under obligation.”
Then, so that he does not become proud at his good deeds
and his achievements, Divine Determining confronts him,
saying: “Know your limits; the one who does them is not
you.” Yes, Divine Determining and the power of choice
are at the final degrees of belief and Islam; the former
has been included among the matters of belief to save the
soul from pride, and the latter, to make it admit to its
responsibility. Obdurate evil-commanding souls clinging
to Divine Determining in order to clear themselves of the
responsibility of the evils they have committed, and
their becoming proud and conceited on account of the
virtues bestowed on them and their relying on the power
of choice, are actions totally opposed to the mystery of
Divine Determining and wisdom of the power of choice;
they are not matters pertaining to knowledge which might
give rise to such actions. ____________________ 1. Qur’an, <big>The Words /
Twenty-Sixth Word - p.478 Yes, as the Qur’an states, man is
totally responsible for his evils, for it is he who wants
the evils. Since evils are destructive, man may
perpetrate much destruction with a single evil act, like
burning down a house with one match, and he becomes
deserving of an awesome punishment. However, he does not
have the right to take pride in good deeds; his part in
them is extremely small. For what wants and requires the
good deeds is Divine mercy, and what creates them is
dominical power. Both request and reply, reason and
cause, are from God. Man only comes to have them through
supplication, belief, consciousness, and consent. As for
evils, it is man’s soul that wants them, either through
capacity or through choice, -like in the white and
beautiful light of the sun some substances become black
and putrefy, and the blackness is related to their
capacity- however, it is Almighty God Who creates the
evils through a Divine law which comprises numerous
benefits. That is to say, the cause and the request are
from the soul, so that it is the soul which is
responsible, while it is Almighty God Who creates the
evils and brings them into existence, and since they have
other results and fruits which are good, they are good. It is for the above reason that the
‘acquisition’ (kasb) of evil, that is, the
desire for evil, is evil, but the creation of evil is not
evil. A lazy man who receives damage from rain, which
comprises many instances of good, may not say that the
rain is not mercy. Yes, together with a minor evil in its
creation are numerous instances of good. To abandon that
good for a minor evil becomes a greater evil. Therefore,
a minor evil becomes like good. There is no evil or
ugliness in Divine creation. They rather pertain to His
servant’s wish and to his capacity. Furthermore, Divine Determining is
both exempt from evil and ugliness with regard to results
and fruits, and free from tyranny and ugliness with
respect to reason and cause. Because Divine Determining
looks to the true causes and acts justly. Men construct
their judgements on causes which they see superficially
and fall into error within the pure justice of Divine
Determining. For example, a judge finds you guilty of
theft and sends you to prison. You are not a thief, but
you have committed a murder which no one knows about.
Thus, Divine Determining also sentenced you to
imprisonment,
<big>The Words /
Twenty-Sixth Word - p.479 I f i t i s s a i d :
“Man has no ability to create with his power of choice
and has nothing apart from ‘acquisition,’ which is as
though theoretical, so how is it that in the Qur’an of
Miraculous Exposition he is shown to be rebellious and
hostile towards the Creator of the heavens and the earth,
Who complains greatly about him; the Creator mobilizes
Himself and all His angels to assist His believing
servants against the rebellious, affording them the
greatest importance?” T h e A n s w e r :
Because disbelief, rebellion, and evil are destruction
and non-existence. However, vast destruction and
innumerable instances of non-existence may result from a
single theoretical matter and one instance of
non-existence. Through the helmsman of a large ship
abandoning his duty, the ship may sink and the labour of
all those employed on it go for nothing; all those
instances of destruction will result from a single
instance of non-existence. Similarly, since disbelief and
rebellion are non-existence and destruction, the power of
choice may provoke them through a theoretical matter and
cause awesome consequences. For although disbelief is
only one evil, it insults the whole universe, accusing it
of being worthless and futile, and denies all beings,
which display proofs of Divine unity, and is contemptuous
towards all the manifestations of the Divine Names. It is
therefore pure wisdom that Almighty God utters severe
complaints about the unbelievers, threatening them
awesomely in the name of the universe and all beings and
the Divine Names; it is pure justice that they should
suffer eternal punishment. Since through unbelief and
rebellion man takes the way of destruction, with a small
act of service, he may perform a great many works. In the
face of unbelief therefore, the believers are in need of
Almighty God’s boundless grace. For due to one
troublesome child who is trying to burn down a house, ten
strong men who have undertaken to protect and repair it
may be obliged to beseech the child’s parents, or even
have recourse to the king. In the same way the believers
are in need of many Divine favours in order to withstand
the unmannerly people of rebellion. I n S h o r t : If the
one speaking of Divine Determining and the power of
choice has perfect belief and is aware of the Divine
presence, he attributes the universe and himself to
Almighty God, knowing them to be under His disposal. He
has the right to speak of them. For since he knows
himself and everything to be from Almighty God, he
assumes the responsibility,
The Words /
Twenty-Sixth Word - p.480 basing it on his power of choice. He
accepts that it is the source of evils and proclaims his
Sustainer free of fault. He remains within the sphere of
worship and undertakes the obligations with which he is
charged by Almighty God. Moreover, he does not become
proud at his good deeds and achievements; he rather looks
to Divine Determining and offers thanks. He sees Divine
Determining in the calamities that befall him, and
endures them in patience. However, if the one speaking of
Divine Determining and the power of choice is one of the
heedless and neglectful, then he has no right to speak of
them. For, impelled by his misguidance, his
evil-commanding soul attributes the universe to causes
and divides up God’s property among them. And he
attributes the ownership of himself to himself. He
ascribes his acts to himself and to causes. His
responsibility and faults, he refers to Divine
Determining. He will finally ascribe the power of choice
to Almighty God, and he will consider Divine Determining
last of all; thus discussion of them becomes meaningless.
To discuss them is only a trick of the soul which is
entirely contrary to the wisdom in them, in order to save
such a person from responsibility. SECOND TOPIC This is a minute and scholarly
investigation addressing scholars in particular.5 I f y o u s a y :
“How is Divine Determining compatible with the power of
choice?” T h e A n s w e r : In
seven ways... • The First: The All-Just
and Wise One, to Whose wisdom and justice the universe
testifies with the tongue of order and balance, gave to
man a power of choice of unknown nature which would be
the means of reward and punishment for him. We do not
know many of the numerous aspects of the All-Just and
Wise One’s wisdom; our not knowing how the power of
choice is compatible with Divine Determining does not
prove that it is not so. • The Second: Of necessity
everyone perceives in himself a will and choice; he knows
it through his conscience. To know the nature of beings
is one thing; to know they exist is something different.
There are many things which although their existence is
self-evident, we do not know their true nature... The
power of choice may be included among these. Everything
is not restricted to what we know; our not knowing them
does not prove the things we do not know do not exist. ____________________ 5. This Second Topic is the most
profound and difficult of the questions of the mystery of
Divine Determining. It is held by the all learned
scholars to be one of the most important and
controversial questions of theology and belief, yet the
Risale-i Nur has solved it completely.
The Words /
Twenty-Sixth Word - p.481 • The Third: The power of
choice is not opposed to Divine Determining, indeed,
Divine Determining corroborates the power of choice.
Because Divine Determining is a sort of Divine knowledge.
Divine knowledge is connected with our will and choice,
in which case it corroborates it, it does not nullify it. • The Fourth: Divine
Determining is a sort of knowledge. Knowledge is
dependent on the thing known. That is, it knows it as it
is. The thing known is not dependent on knowledge. That
is, the principles of knowledge are not fundamental so
that the knowledge directs the thing known with regard to
its external existence. Because the essence of the thing
known and its external existence look to will and are
based on power. Also, pre-eternity is not the tip of a
chain reaching into the past which should be considered
the end point in the existence of things and a source of
compulsion. Rather, pre-eternity holds the past, the
present, and the future all at once, looking at them from
above like a mirror. In which case, it is not right to
imagine an end to past time which stretches back within
the sphere of contingency and call it pre-eternity, and
to suppose that things enter that knowledge of
pre-eternity in sequence, and that oneself is outside it;
to reason thus is not right. Consider the following
example in order to explain this mystery: Suppose there is a mirror in your
hand and the area to your right is the past and the area
to your left, the future; the mirror only holds what is
opposite it. Then with a movement it holds both sides,
but it cannot hold all of it. However low the mirror is
held, less will appear in it, and the higher it rises,
the area it encompasses expands, until it can hold both
sides in their entirety simultaneously. Whatever occurs
in the areas reflected in the mirror in this position
cannot be said to precede or follow one another, or to
conform to or oppose one another. Divine Determining is
part of pre-eternal knowledge, and in the words of the
Hadith, pre-eternal knowledge is “at an elevated
station which from its lofty view-point encompasses
everything that has been and will be from pre-eternity to
post-eternity.” We and our reasoning cannot be outside
of it so we can be like a mirror to the area of the past. • The Fifth: Divine
Determining has a connection with cause and effect. That
is, this effect will occur through this cause. In which
case, it may not be said that “Since so-and-so’s
death is determined at such-and-such a time, what fault
has the man who fired the rifle through his own choice,
for if he had not fired it, the other still would have
died?” Question: Why may it
not be said? The Answer: Because
Divine Determining specified that so-and-so’s death
would occur through the man’s rifle. If you suppose
that he did not fire
<big>The Words /
Twenty-Sixth Word - p.482 the rifle, then you are supposing
that Divine Determining had no connection with it, so
with what would you decree his death? If you imagine
cause and effect to be separate like the Jabariyya, or
you deny Divine Determining like the Mu‘tazila, you
leave the • The Sixth:6
According to Maturidi, inclination, the essence of the
power of choice, is a theoretical or relative matter and
may be attributed to God’s servants. But Ash‘ari
considered it to have existence, so did not attribute it
to them. However, according to Ash‘ari, the power of
disposal within inclination is a theoretical matter,
which makes the inclination and the disposal together a
relative matter lacking a definite external existence.
Theoretical or relative matters do not require causes
through which, for their existence, necessity would
intervene and nullify the will and power of choice.
Rather, if the cause of the theoretical matters acquires
the weight of preference, the theoretical matter may
become actual and existent. In which case, at that
juncture, it may be abandoned. The Qur’an may say to a
person at that point: “This is evil; do not do it.”
Indeed, if God’s servants had been the creators of
their actions and had had the power to create, then their
wills would have been removed. For an established rule in
the sciences of religion and philosophy is: “If a thing
is not necessary, it may not come into existence [of
itself].” That is, there has to be a cause for a thing
to come into existence. The cause necessarily requires
the effect. Then no power of choice would remain. If you say: Preference
without a cause or attribute to cause the preference is
impossible. Whereas the theoretical or relative matter we
call human acquisition sometimes does a thing and
sometimes does not; if there is nothing to cause the
preference, preference without something to cause it
would necessarily occur, and ôhis demolishes one of the
most important bases of theology? The Answer: Preference
without a cause or attribute to cause the preference is
impossible. That is, a being deemed preferable or
superior without a cause or attribute to make it so is
impossible. But preference without something to cause it
is permissible and occurs. Will is an attribute, and its
mark is to perform a work such as that. If you ask: “Since
the one who creates the murder is Almighty God, why do
you call me a murderer?” The Answer: Because
according to the rules of grammar, the active participle
is derived from the infinitive, which is a relative
matter. It cannot be ____________________ 6. This is a truth addressing exact
scholars in particular.
The Words /
Twenty-Sixth Word - p.483 derived from the verbal noun, which
is an actual or existent matter. The infinitive is our
acquisition; so we are called the murderer. The verbal
noun is Almighty God’s creature. Something which gives
an inkling of responsibility cannot be derived from the
verbal noun. • The Seventh: For sure,
man’s faculty of will and power of choice are weak and
a theoretical matter, but Almighty God, the Absolutely
Wise One, made that weak and partial will a condition for
the connection of His universal will. He in effect says:
“My servant! Whichever way you wish to take with your
will, I will take you there. In which case the
responsibility is yours!” If the comparison is not
mistaken, you take a powerless child onto your shoulders
and leaving the choice to him, tell him you will take him
wherever he wishes. The child wants to go to a high
mountain so you take him there, but he either catches
cold or falls. So of course you reprimand him, saying,
“You wanted to go there,” and you give him a slap.
Thus, Almighty God, the Firmest of Judges, makes His
servant’s will, which is utterly weak, a condition, and
His universal will follows it. I n S h o r t : O man!
You have a will known as the power of choice which is
extremely weak, but whose hand in evil acts and
destruction is extremely long and in good deeds is
extremely short. Give one of the hands of that will of
yours to supplication, so that it may reach THIRD TOPIC Belief in Divine Determining is one
of the pillars of belief. That is, the belief that
“everything is determined by Almighty God.” The
certain proofs for Divine Determining are so numerous
they cannot be calculated. We shall show in an
Introduction, simply and clearly, how strong and broad is
this pillar of belief. I n t r o d u c t i o n : Numerous verses of the Qur’an,
like, Nor anything fresh or dry [green
or withered] but is [inscribed] in a Clear Book,7 state clearly that before it comes
into existence and after it passes from existence,
everything is written. Through its creational signs like
the order, ____________________ 7. Qur’an,
The Words / Twenty-Sixth Word - p.484 Furthermore, the well-measured
proportions of everything clearly show Divine
Determining. Yes, whatever living creature is considered,
it is as though its form and measure emerged from a
wisely and skilfully wrought mould. For it to receive
such a measure, form, and shape, either there has to be a
truly wondrous and infinitely intricate physical mould,
or else pre-eternal power cuts out the form and shape
according to a well-proportioned immaterial mould that
exists in knowledge and comes from Divine Determining,
and clothes it in it. For example, look carefully at this
tree or that animal, you will see that the particles,
which are lifeless, deaf, blind, unconscious, and similar
to one another, are in motion in its growth and
development. In some of the being’s intricate
extremities the particles halt, as though seeing, knowing
and recognizing the place of fruits and benefits. Then in
another place they change their direction as though
following some important aim. That means they are in
motion in accordance with the immaterial measured
proportions of the tree or animal, which come from Divine
Determining, and are governed by those proportions. Since there are the manifestations of
Divine Determining to this extent in physical and visible
things, certainly the forms with which things are clothed
with the passing of time and the states acquired through
the motions they perform will also be dependent on the
ordering of Divine Determining. In a seed are two
manifestations of Divine Determining; one is
‘evident’ and points to the Clear Book, which is a
title of will and the creational commands; the other is
‘theoretical’ and points to the Clear Record, which
is a title of Divine knowledge and the Divine command.
‘Evident’ Divine Determining specifies the physical
nature, states, and parts of the tree which the seed
comprises. While ‘theoretical’ Divine Determining
specifies the stages, states, forms, motions, and
glorifications which the tree will undergo and perform
over the period of its life, and which are in the seed
and will be
The Words / Twenty-Sixth Word - p.485 Since there is such a manifestation
of Divine Determining in the most common and simple of
things, it surely demonstrates that all things are
written before they come into existence; this may be
understood with little attention. Now, evidence for the
fact that the story of everything’s life is written
after its existence are all fruits, which in this world
tell of the Clear Book and the Clear Record, and the
faculty of memory in man, which points to the Preserved
Tablet; these all hint and testify to this fact. Indeed,
the appointed events of a tree’s life are written in
its seeds, which are like the hearts of its fruits. And
man’s life-history together with some of the past
events of the world are written in his memory in such a
way that, as though copying out with the hand of power
and pen of Divine Determining in a faculty as tiny as a
mustard seed a small note from the page of his actions,
the memory gives the note to man’s hand and puts it in
the pocket of his mind, so that with it he will call his
actions to mind at the time of reckoning. So too, due to
it he may be confident that within the upheavals of
transience and death there are numerous lasting mirrors
in which the All-Powerful and Wise One depicts and makes
permanent the identities of transient beings; and truly
numerous tablets which shall endure for all eternity on
which that All-Knowing Preserver inscribes the meanings
of transitory beings. I n S h o r t : Since
plant life, the simplest and lowest level of life, is
dependent on the ordering of Divine Determining to this
extent, certainly human life, the highest level of life,
has been drawn in all in its details according to the
scale and measuring of Divine Determining and is
inscribed by its pen. Yes, just as raindrops tell of
clouds, and drops of water point to the existence of a
water-source, and notes and portfolios to the existence
of a large ledger, so too, the ‘evident’ Divine
Determining which we observe and which is the physical
order in living beings indicates the notebook of Divine
will and creational commands known as the Clear Book.
Similarly, their fruits, seeds, grains, forms, and
shapes, which are like the droplets, notes, and
portfolios of ‘theoretical’ Divine Determining, which
is the non-physical order and pertains to life, indicates
the Preserved Tablet, one office of Divine knowledge,
which is called the Clear Record. T o C o n c l u d e :
We see clearly that at the time of their growth and
development the particles of living beings travel to
their intricate extremities and halt, then they change
their path. At each of the extremities they produce the
fruits of benefits, uses, and instances of wisdom.
Clearly, the forms of those things and their measures are
drawn with a pen of Determining. Thus, observable,
evident Determining shows that in the non-physical states
of The Words / Twenty-Sixth Word - p.486 I f y o u s a y :
“Divine Determining has bound us like this. It has
negated our freedom. Isn’t belief in it a burden and
irksome for the heart and spirit, which yearn for
expansion and to roam freely?” T h e A n s w e r :
Absolutely not! It is not burdensome; it rather affords a
luminosity and joy producing a lightness, ease, and
spirit, and ensuring confidence and security. Because if
man does not believe in Divine Determining, he is
compelled to bear a burden as heavy as the world on the
shoulders of his spirit within a constricted space, which
allows him only an insignificant independence and
temporary freedom. For man is connected with the whole
universe. He has infinite aims and desires. But since his
power, will, and freedom are insufficient to meet a
millionth of these, it may be understood how awesome is
the burden of the distress he bears. Thus, belief in
Divine Determining throws that burden in its entirety
onto the ship of Divine Determining, allowing him to roam
free within its perfections with perfect ease and perfect
freedom of spirit and heart. It only negates the petty
freedom of the evil-commanding soul and smashes its
Pharaoh-like tyranny and lordship, and its acting as it
wishes. Belief in Divine Determining produces such
pleasure and happiness it is beyond description. We shall
only allude to it with the following comparison. Two men travelled to the seat of
government of a king, and there entered his private
palace, a place of rare wonders. One of them did not
recognize the king and laying hands on everything and
stealing them, wanted to settle there. However, he
experienced certain difficulties, for he had to manage
the palace and its park, oversee its revenues, work its
machines, and feed its strange animals; he suffered
constant distress. The paradise-like park became hell for
him. He pitied everything. He could not govern them. He
passed his time regretfully. Then this thieving,
unmannerly man was cast into prison as a punishment. The
second man recognized the king and knew himself to be his
guest. He believed that all the matters in the park and The Words / Twenty-Sixth Word - p.487 FOURTH TOPIC I f y o u s a y : “In
the First Topic you proved that everything about Divine
Determining is good and beautiful. Even the evil that
comes from it is good, and the ugliness, beautiful. But
the disasters and tribulations in this world refute that
statement.” T h e A n s w e r : O
my soul and my friend who feel severe pain out of intense
compassion! The facts that all virtues and perfections
return to existence and that the basis of all rebellion,
calamities, and defects is non-existence are a proof that
existence is pure good and non-existence, pure evil.
Since non-existence is pure evil, circumstances that
either result in non-existence or give an inkling of it,
also comprise evil. Therefore, life, the most brilliant
light of existence, proceeding through different
circumstances, finds strength; it encounters varying
situations and is purified; it takes on numerous
qualities and produces the desired results, and enters
many stages and displays comprehensively the impresses of
the Bestower of Life’s Names. It is due to this fact
that certain things happen to living creatures in the
form of griefs, calamities, difficulties, and
tribulations whereby the lights of existence are renewed
in their lives, and the darkness of non-existence draws
distant and their lives are purified. For arrest, repose,
silence, idleness, rest, and monotony are all, both in
quality and as conditions, non-existence. Even the
greatest pleasure is reduced to nothing by monotony. I n S h o r t : Since
life displays the impresses of the Most Beautiful Names,
everything that happens to it is good. For example, an
extremely rich and infinitely skilful person who is
proficient in many crafts, for an hour and in return for
a wage, clothes a miserable wretch in a bejewelled,
artistically fashioned garment. This garment he made in
order to make the miserable man act as a model and to
display the works of his art and his extensive wealth. He
works the garment on the man, gives it various forms, and
alters it. In order to display every variety of his art,
he cuts it, changes it, and lengthens and shortens it.
Can the poor man receiving the wage be justified if he
says to the person: “You are giving me trouble. You are
making me bow down and stand up. By cutting and
shortening this garment which makes me more beautiful,
you are spoiling my beauty”? Does he have the The Words / Twenty-Sixth Word -
Conclusion - p.488 right to tell him: “You are acting
unkindly and unfairly”? Thus, like him, in order to
display the impresses of His Most Beautiful Names, the
All-Glorious Maker, the Peerless Creator, alters within
numerous circumstances the garment of existence He
clothes on living creatures, bejewelled with senses and
subtle faculties like eyes, ears, the reason, and the
heart. He changes it within very many situations. Among
these are circumstances in the form of suffering and
calamity which show the meanings of some of His Names,
and the rays of mercy within flashes of wisdom, and the
subtle instances of beauty within those rays of mercy. Conclusion [Five Paragraphs which silenced the
Old Said’s rebellious, proud, vain, conceited, and
hypocritical soul, and compelled it to submit.] FIRST PARAGRAPH: Since things
exist and they are full of art, they surely have a maker.
As is decisively proved in the Twenty-Second Word, if
everything is not one person’s, then each thing becomes
as difficult and problematical as all things. Since
someone made the earth and the heavens and created them,
for sure that most wise and skilful Being would not leave
to others living beings, which are the fruits, results,
and aims of the heavens and the earth, and spoil his
work. Making it futile and without purpose, He would not
hand over to others all His wise works; He would not give
their thanks and worship to others. SECOND PARAGRAPH: O my
conceited soul! You resemble a grape-vine. Do not become
proud! The vine itself did not attach the bunches of
grapes; someone else attached them. THIRD PARAGRAPH: O my
hypocritical soul! Do not become vain, saying: “I have
served religion.” According to the meaning of the
saying, “God strengthens this religion by means of
sinful men,”8 it was because you were not
purified. Indeed, you should know yourself to be such a
sinful man, and that your duty and worship is thanks for
past bounties. For these are the function of your nature,
incumbent on you due to your creation, and the result of
art; know this and be saved from vanity and hypocrisy! FOURTH PARAGRAPH: If you want
knowledge of reality and true wisdom, gain knowledge of
Almighty God. For the realities of beings are ____________________ 8. Bukhari, Jihad, 182; Maghazi, 38;
Qadr, 5; Muslim, Iman, 178; Ibn Maja, Fitan, 35. The Words /
Twenty-Sixth Word - Conclusion - p.489 rays of the Divine Name of Truth and
the manifestations of His Names and attributes. The
reality of all things, whether physical, non-physical,
essential, non-essential, and the reality of all human
beings, is based on a Name and relies on Its reality.
Things are not merely insignificant forms without
reality. There is a brief discussion of this mystery at
the end of the Twentieth Word. O my soul! If you long for
the life of this world and flee death, know certainly
that the conditions you suppose to be life are only the
minute in which you are. All the time previous to the
present minute and the things of the world within that
time are dead in the present minute. And all the time
subsequent to the present minute and all it contains are
non-existent in it, and nothing. That means the physical
life on which you rely is only one minute. Some of the
learned, even, said it was a tenth of a minute, rather,
the passing instant. It is due to this mystery that
certain saints stated that with regard to this world,
this world is non-existent. Since it is thus, give up the
physical life of the soul; rise to the level of life of
the heart, spirit, and inner faculties; see what a broad
sphere of life they have. For them, the past and the
future, which for you are dead, are living; they are
existent and full of life. O my soul! Like my heart, you
too weep and cry out and say: I am ephemeral; I do not want
another who is thus. I am impotent; I do not want
another who is thus. I have surrendered my spirit to
the Most Merciful; I do not want another. I want another, but let him be an
eternal friend. I am a mere atom, but I desire an
Everlasting Sun. I am nothing, yet I wish for these
beings, all of them. FIFTH PARAGRAPH: This
Paragraph occurred to me in Arabic, and so it was written
thus. Also, it recalls one of the thirty-three degrees of
reflection in the recitation, God is Most Great. God is Most Great! The Eternal,
All-Knowing, All-Wise, Most Generous, Most Compassionate,
All-Beauteous, the Inscriber, the Pre-Eternal! What is
the reality of the universe in its entirety and in its
parts, and its pages and levels, and what is the reality
of beings altogether and singly, in their existence and
continuation, but the lines of the pen of His Determining
and Decree, and His setting in order and determining,
with knowledge and wisdom; what are they but the skilful
inscriptions of His knowledge and wisdom and regulating
and forming, with art and favour; the adornments of the
shining hand of His art and favour and embellishing and
illuminating, with grace and munificence; the flowers of
the subtleties of His favour and munificence and making
known and loved, with mercy and bounty; the fruits of the
effusions of His mercy and bounty and pity and
compassion, with The Words /
Twenty-Sixth Word - Conclusion - p.490 beauty and perfection; the flashes
and manifestations of His beauty and perfection through
the testimony of the transience of the mirrors and the
ephemerality of the places of manifestation and the
permanence of that transcendent, eternal beauty, and its
constant manifestation and appearance throughout the
passage of the seasons, centuries, and ages, and the
perpetual bestowal of bounties throughout the passage of
the creatures and days and people? Indeed, a perfect work points to
one possessing intellect who performs a perfect act, and
the perfect act points to one with understanding who
possesses perfect names, and the perfect names point to
perfect attributes, and perfect attributes point to
perfect qualities, and the perfect qualities point to the
perfection of the essence from which they proceed, and
this is absolutely certain. Indeed, the ephemerality of the
mirrors and death of creatures together with the
perpetual manifestation and constant effulgence is the
clearest of proofs that their apparent beauty does not
belong to the places of manifestation; it is the most
eloquent statement and clearest argument for a
transcendent beauty, and renewed bestowal, to the
Necessary Existent, to the Enduring One, the Loving
One... O God! Grant blessings to our
master Muhammad from pre-eternity to post-eternity to the
number of things encompassed by Divine Knowledge, and to
his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. ??
The Words /
Twenty-Sixth Word - p.491 Addendum In the Name of God, the Merciful,
the Compassionate. The 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. Indeed, 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 is
a swifter and broader path. Also like ecstatic love,
reflection leads to the Name of All-Wise, but it is a
richer, broader, and more brilliant path. This path
consists not of ten steps like the ‘ten subtle
faculties’ of some of the Sufi orders (tariqat)
employing silent recollection, nor of seven stages like
the ‘seven souls’ of those practising public
recitation, but of four ‘Steps’. It is reality [haqiqat],
rather than a tariqat. It is 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. And it is
especially to perform the prescribed prayers correctly
and with attention, and following them to say the tesbihat. The verse, Therefore, do not
justify yourselves,9 points to the First
Step. The verse, And be not like those
who forget God, and He therefore makes them forget their
own selves,10 points to the Second Step. ____________________ 9. Qur’an, 53:32.
The Words /
Twenty-Sixth Word - Addendum - p.492 The verse, Whatever good happens
to you is from God, but whatever evil befalls you is from
yourself,11 points to the Third Step. The verse, Everything will perish
save His countenance,12 points to the
Fourth Step. A brief explanation of these Four
Steps is as follows: THE 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 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.13 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 is 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 state. 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 becomes vain and
conceited. Thus, in this Step, a person sees only faults,
defects, impotence, and poverty in himself, and
understands that all his good qualities and perfections
are bounties bestowed on him by the All- ____________________ 11. Qur’an, 4:79.
The Words /
Twenty-Sixth Word - Addendum - p.493 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,14 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, lacking, 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 non-existence he has existence. That is to
say, if he values himself and attributes existence to
himself, he is in a 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: Indeed, this path is shorter, because
it consists of four steps. When impotence removes the
hand from the soul, it gives it directly to the
All-Powerful One of Glory. Whereas, when the way of
ecstatic love, the swiftest way, ____________________ 14. Qur’an, 91:9.
The Words / Twenty-Sixth Word -
Addendum - p.494 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, one 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. |
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