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Yirmi Altıncı Mektup/en: Revizyonlar arasındaki fark
"------ <center> The Twenty-Fifth Letter ⇐ | The Letters | ⇒ The Twenty-Seventh Letter </center> ------" içeriğiyle yeni sayfa oluşturdu
("So to be hostile towards those fellow Muslims is indirectly harmful to Islam and the Qur’an. And hostility towards Islam and the Qur’an is hostility of a sort towards the lives in this world and in the next of all those fellow-citizens. To destroy the foundations of their two lives while claiming to serve their social life in the name of patriotism, is not patriotism but stupidity!" içeriğiyle yeni sayfa oluşturdu) |
("------ <center> The Twenty-Fifth Letter ⇐ | The Letters | ⇒ The Twenty-Seventh Letter </center> ------" içeriğiyle yeni sayfa oluşturdu) |
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| (Aynı kullanıcının aradaki diğer 114 değişikliği gösterilmiyor) | |||
| 245. satır: | 245. satır: | ||
So to be hostile towards those fellow Muslims is indirectly harmful to Islam and the Qur’an. And hostility towards Islam and the Qur’an is hostility of a sort towards the lives in this world and in the next of all those fellow-citizens. To destroy the foundations of their two lives while claiming to serve their social life in the name of patriotism, is not patriotism but stupidity! | So to be hostile towards those fellow Muslims is indirectly harmful to Islam and the Qur’an. And hostility towards Islam and the Qur’an is hostility of a sort towards the lives in this world and in the next of all those fellow-citizens. To destroy the foundations of their two lives while claiming to serve their social life in the name of patriotism, is not patriotism but stupidity! | ||
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=== | ===Fourth Matter=== | ||
Positive nationalism arises from an inner need of social life and is the cause of mutual assistance and solidarity. It gives rise to a beneficial strength, and is a way of reinforcing Islamic brotherhood. | |||
The idea of positive nationalism should serve Islam and be its citadel and armour; it should not take its place. For within the brotherhood of Islam is a hundredfold brotherhood that persists in the Intermediate Realm and World of Eternity. So whatever its extent, national brotherhood may be an element of it. But to plant it in place of Islamic brotherhood is a foolish crime like replacing the treasure of diamonds within the citadel with the citadel’s stones, and throwing the diamonds away. | |||
O sons of this land, who are the people of the Qur’an! Challenging the whole world, you have proclaimed the Qur’an as its standard-bearers, not for six hundred years, but for a thousand years since the time of the ‘Abbasids. You have made your nationhood a citadel to the Qur’an and Islam. You have silenced the whole world and repulsed awesome attacks. You have confirmed the verse:Soon God will produce a people whom He will love as they will love Him, lowly with the believers, mighty against the rejecters, fighting in the way of God.(5:54)Now you must refrain from succumbing to the stratagems of Europe and the dissemblers who imitate them, thus corroborating the passage above; you must be frightened of doing such a thing! | |||
'''A Noteworthy Situation:'''The Turks are the most numerous of the Islamic peoples, and wherever they are found, they are Muslims. They have not divided into Muslims and non-Muslims like other peoples. Wherever there are Turks, they are Muslims. Turks who have abandoned Islam or who are not Muslims are no longer Turkish, like the Hungarians. But even small races consist of both Muslims and non- Muslims. | |||
''' | |||
O my Turkish brother! You watch out in particular! Your nationhood has fused with Islam and may not be separated from it. If you do separate them, you will be finished! All your glorious deeds of the past are recorded in the book of Islam’s deeds, and cannot be effaced from the face of the earth by any power. So don’t you efface them from your heart at the evil suggestions and devices of Satan! | |||
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=== | ===Fifth Matter=== | ||
The peoples awakening in Asia are embracing the idea of nationalism and imitating Europe precisely in every respect, and on the way are sacrificing many of the things they hold sacred. However, every nation requires a dress suitable to its particular stature. Even if the material is the same [for all nations], the styles have to be different. A woman cannot be dressed in a gendarme’s uniform, nor can an elderly hoja be clothed in a tango-dancer’s outfit. Moreover, blind imitation very often makes people into laughing-stocks. This is so for the following reasons: | |||
'''Firstly:'''If Europe is a shop, a barracks, Asia is an arable field and a mosque.A shopkeeper can go to the ball, but a peasant cannot. The situation of a barracks and that of a mosque cannot be the same. | |||
''' | |||
Moreover, the appearance of most of the prophets in Asia, and the emergence of the majority of philosophers in Europe is a sign, an indication, of pre-eternal divine determining that what will arouse the Asian peoples and cause them to progress and to govern, are religion and the heart. As for philosophy, it should assist religion and the heart, not take its place. | |||
'''Secondly:'''It is a grievous error to compare the religions of Islam and Christianity and to be indifferent towards religion like Europe. Firstly, Europe has its religion. The fact that such European leaders as Wilson, Lloyd George, and Venizelos were as bigoted in their religion as priests, testifies that Europe has its religion, and is even bigoted in one respect. | |||
''' | |||
'''Thirdly:'''To compare Islam with Christianity is a false comparison and wrong. For when it was bigoted in its religion, Europe was not civilized; it became civilized on giving up its bigotry. | |||
''' | |||
Furthermore, religion caused three hundred years of war between them. And since it was the means of despotic tyrants crushing the common people, the poor, and thinkers who were in their power, they all felt a temporary disgust at religion. | |||
However, in Islam, history testifies that apart from one occasion, religion has not been the cause of internal war. | |||
Also, whenever the people of Islam have adhered in earnest to their religion, they have advanced proportionately, achieving significant progress. Witness to this is the greatest master of Europe, the Islamic state of Andalusia. | |||
But whenever the Islamic community has been slack in religion, it has sunk into wretchedness, and declined. | |||
Furthermore, Islam has protected the poor and the common people with compassionate measures such as enjoining the payment of zakat and prohibiting usury and interest. And in accordance with phrases like, “So will they not think,”(36:68) * “So will they not reason,”(6:50) * “So will they not ponder on it,”(4:82) it has called on the intelligence and encouraged reason and knowledge and protected scholars. Islam has therefore always been the stronghold and place of recourse of the poor and the people of learning. They have no reason to be vexed at Islam. | |||
The underlying reason Islam differs in various respects from Christianity and other religions is this: | |||
The basis of Islam is the pure affirmation of divine unity; it attributes no actual effect to causes and intermediaries, and affords them no value in respect of creation and position. | |||
Christianity, however, since it has accepted the idea of Jesus being the Son of God, it gives some value to causes and intermediaries; it cannot break egotism. It quite simply ascribes a manifestation of divine dominicalit y to its saints and great ones, thus confirming the verse: | |||
They take their priests and their anchorites to be their lords in derogation of God.(9:31)It is because of this that, together with maintaining their pride and egotism,those Christians who occupy the highest worldly ranks are religious and bigoted, like the former American president, Wilson. | |||
In Islam, the religion of pure divine unity, those holding the highest worldly positions either give up their egotism and pride, or they give up their religion to an extent. For this reason, some are neglectful or even irreligious. | |||
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=== | ===Sixth Matter=== | ||
To those people who go to excess in the idea of negative nationalism and racialism we say this: | |||
'''Firstly:'''The face of the world and especially this country of ours has since ancient times seen numerous migrations and changes of population. In addition, when the centre of Islamic rule was established here other peoples were drawn to it and they settled here. Consequently, only when the Preserved Tablet is revealed will the races truly be distinguished from each other. To construct movements and patriotism on the idea of true race is both meaningless and extremely harmful. It is for this reason that one of the nationalist leaders and racialists, who was very neglectful in religion, was compelled to say: “If language and religion are the same, the nation is the same.” | |||
''' | |||
Since that is so, relations of language, religion, and country should be considered, not true race. If the three are the same, the nation will certainly be strong. And if one is absent, there will still be nationhood. | |||
'''Secondly:'''I shall describe by way of example, two of the hundreds of advantages the sacred nationhood of Islam has gained for the social life of the sons of this land: | |||
''' | |||
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==== | ====The First:==== | ||
What enabled this Islamic state, while numbering only twenty or thirty million, to preserve its life and existence in the face of all the large states of Europe was the following idea held by its army, which was born of the light of the Qur’an: “If I die, I shall be a martyr; and if I kill, I shall be a ghazi.” They met death eagerly and with longing, laughing in its face. They always made Europe tremble. What in the world is there that will give rise to such elevated self-sacrifice in the spirit of a simple-hearted soldier? What patriotism can be instilled in its place? What can make him willingly sacrifice his life and all his world? | |||
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==== | ====The Second:==== | ||
Whenever the dragons (large states) of Europe have dealt a blow at this Islamic state, they have caused three hundred and fifty million Muslims to weep and cry out. So in order not to make them do that, those colonialists drew back their hands; they lowered them, even while raising them to strike. What power can be established in place of this constant moral support, which can be in no way belittled? Let them show it! No, that huge moral strength must not be offended by negative nationalism and independent patriotism. | |||
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=== | ===Seventh Matter=== | ||
We say to those who exhibit excessive patriotism and negative nationalism: if you truly love this nation and feel pity for it, be patriotic in such a way that your pity is directed towards the majority of its people. For to serve the temporary heedless social life of the minority, who are in no need of pity, in a way that is the reverse of pity for the majority, is not patriotism. | |||
Patriotic works performed out of negative racialism may be temporarily beneficial for two people out of eight. They receive the kindness arising from that patriotism, although they do not deserve it. But the remaining six are either elderly, or sick, or afflicted with tribulations, or are children, or weak, or pious people turned earnestly toward the hereafter; these people want a light, a solace, compassion, in the face of the Intermediate Realm and the hereafter, with the life of which they are concerned rather than worldly life; they are in need of helping hands that are blessed and patriotic. What patriotism could permit their light to be extinguished, their solace to be destroyed? Alas! Where is that pity for the nation, that self-sacrifice? | |||
We must never lose hope in divine mercy. For Almighty God will not cause to perish through temporary set-backs the magnificent army and mighty community of the people of this land, which He employed for a thousand years in the service of the Qur’an, appointing them its standard-bearer. He will once again kindle that light and cause them to continue their duty, God willing! | |||
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== | ==Fourth Topic== | ||
[NOTE: The ten Matters of this Fourth Topic are unconnected, in the same way that the four Topics of this Twenty-Sixth Letter are unconnected. So no connection should be sought. They were written exactly as they occurred to me. This is part of a letter to an important student of mine, consisting of the answers to five or six of his questions.] | |||
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=== | ===The First=== | ||
'''Secondly:'''In your letter you mention that explanations and interpretations of “Lord and Sustainer of All the Worlds,”(1:2) state that there are eighteen thousand worlds,(*<ref>*Tabari, Jami’ al-Bayan, i, 63.</ref>)and you ask the wisdom in this number. | |||
''' | |||
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My brother, at the moment I do not know the wisdom in it, but I can say this much: the phrases of the Wise Qur’an are not restricted to a single meaning; for since the Qur’an addresses all the levels of mankind, its phrases are like universals or wholes that comprise meanings for each level. The meanings that are expounded are like parts of the general law. Every Qur’anic commentator, every adept, mentions one part of the whole. Basing it on either his illumination, or his proofs, or his way, he prefers one meaning. Thus, in this verse too, one group disclosed a meaning which corresponded to that number. | |||
For example, the verses,He has let free the two bodies of flowing water, meeting together; * Between them is a barrier which they do not transgress,(55:19-20)which the people of sainthood hold to be significant and recite constantly in their invocations, are parts with meanings ranging from the sea of dominicality and sea of worship in the spheres of necessity and contingency respectively, to the seas of the World of the Unseen and the Manifest World, and to the oceans of the north, south, east, and west, and to the Adriatic and the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and the Suez Canal, and to the freshwater and salt lakes, the various fresh-water lakes under the soil layer and the salt lakes over it and contiguous with it, and to the small lakes called the great rivers, such as the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates, and the salty seas into which they flow. Any of these may be intended or meant, and may be their literal and metaphorical meanings. | |||
In the same way, “All praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds” encompasses numerous truths. The people of illumination and of reality interpret them differently according to the meanings they uncover. | |||
Personally, I think that the heavens consist of thousands of worlds; some of the stars may each be worlds. On the earth too, every sort of creature is a world. Each human being is a small world. As for the term, “Sustainer of All the Worlds,” it means that every world is administered, sustained, and governed directly through Almighty God’s dominicality (rubûbiyet). | |||
'''Thirdly:'''God’s Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) said: “When God wishes a people well, he causes them to see their own faults.”(*<ref>*al-‘Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa’, i, 8.</ref>) | |||
''' | |||
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اِذَا اَرَادَ اللّٰهُ بِقَو۟مٍ خَي۟رًا اَب۟صَرَهُم۟ بِعُيُوبِ اَن۟فُسِهِم۟ | اِذَا اَرَادَ اللّٰهُ بِقَو۟مٍ خَي۟رًا اَب۟صَرَهُم۟ بِعُيُوبِ اَن۟فُسِهِم۟ | ||
And in the All-Wise Qur’an, Joseph (Upon whom be peace) said: | |||
وَمَٓا اُبَرِّئُ نَف۟سٖى اِنَّ النَّف۟سَ لَاَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّٓوءِ | وَمَٓا اُبَرِّئُ نَف۟سٖى اِنَّ النَّف۟سَ لَاَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّٓوءِ | ||
“Nor do I absolve my own self [of blame]; the [human] soul is certainly prone to evil.”(12:53)Yes, the person who is fond of himself and relies on himself is unfortunate, while someone who sees his own faults is fortunate. So you are fortunate! Nevertheless, it sometimes happens that the evil-commanding soul is transformed into the blaming soul or the tranquil soul, and that it hands over its weapons and equipment to the nerves. Then the nerves and veins of temperament perform its function till the end of life. Although the person’s evil-commanding soul died long beforehand, his nerves are still apparent. | |||
Many great saints and holy men have complained about their evil- commanding souls although their souls were tranquil. They have lamented over sicknesses of the heart although their hearts were completely sound and illumined. But what afflicted these persons was not their evil-commanding souls, but the soul’s functions that had been handed over to their nerves. | |||
Their ailments were not of the heart, but of the imagination. My brother! God willing, what is attacking you is not your soul and a sickness of the heart, but the state which, as we said, by reason of human nature and to perpetuate striving, has been transferred to the nerves and results in constant progress. | |||
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=== | ===Second Matter=== | ||
Explanations of the three questions asked by the former teacher (hoja) 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 that 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 and theology 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 the knowledge of God was that 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 affords a constant sense of the divine presence, but it neither condemns the universe to non- existence, nor imprisons it in absolute oblivion. It rather releases it from its purposelessness and employs it in Almighty God’s name. Everything becomes a mirror yielding knowledge of Him. As Sa‘di Shirazi said: | |||
“To the conscious gaze every 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, tunnelling through 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.Similarly, 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 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. All its verses cause water to flow forth wherever they strike, like the Staff of Moses. | |||
Each makes everything recite the rule: “In everything is a sign indicating that He is One.” | |||
Furthermore, faith (îmân) is not gained only through knowledge; many of the subtle faculties have their share of it. 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. | |||
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=== | ===Third Matter=== | ||
In what way is the verse, “We have honoured the sons of Adam”(17:70) conformable with the verse, “He was indeed unjust and foolish”(33:72)? | |||
'''The Answer:'''There are explanations in the Eleventh and Twenty-Third Words, and in the Second Fruit of the Fifth Branch of the Twenty-Fourth Word. A summary is as follows: | |||
''' | |||
With His perfect power, Almighty God makes many things from a single thing, causes one thing to perform numerous duties, and writes a thousand books on a single page; so too He created man as a comprehensive species, in place of many species. That is to say, He willed that through man, a single species, functions would be performed to the number of the different levels of all the animal species. For this reason, He placed no innate limit on man’s powers and senses, no natural restriction, and left them free. Those of the other animals are limited and naturally restricted. | |||
Whereas each of man’s powers may roam free over an endless distance towards infinity. For since he is a mirror to the infinite manifestations of the names of the universe’s Creator, his powers have been given an infinite capacity. | |||
For example, even if the whole world were given to man, due to his greed, he would say: “Are there any more?”(50:30) And due to his selfishness, he finds it acceptable that a thousand people should suffer harm for his own sake. And so on. He may advance endlessly in bad morality and reach the degree of the Nimrods and Pharaohs; as is shown by the use of the intensive form in the verse above (33:72), he is given to great wrongdoing. Similarly, he may manifest endless progress in good morality, and rise to the level of the prophets and veracious ones. | |||
Moreover, contrary to the animals, man is ignorant about all the things necessar y for life and is compelled to learn everything. He is in need of innumerable things, and therefore in accordance with the intensive form in the same verse, is “most ignorant.” But when animals come into the world, they need few things, and what they do need, everything necessary for their lives, they may learn in a couple of months, or even a couple of days, or in some cases, in a couple of hours. It is as if they have been perfected in another world and come thus. But man can only rise to his feet in one or two years, and only in fifteen can distinguish between what is beneficial and what is harmful. | |||
The intensive form of “most ignorant” indicates this too. | |||
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=== | ===Fourth Matter=== | ||
< | You ask concerning the wisdom contained in [the Hadith]: “Renew your belief by means of ‘There is no god but God.’”(*<ref>*Musnad, ii, 359; al-Mundhiri, al-Targhib wa’l-Tarhib, ii, 415; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iv, 256; al- Haythami, Majma‘ al-Zawa’id, i, 52.</ref>)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. | |||
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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 than 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 school of Sufis, in order to experience God’s presence and affirm His unity fully, said: “Nothing is observed but Him.” They thus forgot the universe and drew the veil of oblivion over it, and then fully experienced the divine presence. Another school of Sufis, in order to truly affirm divine unity and enter 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 non-existence, and then fully entered the divine presence. | |||
''' | |||
But you point out that in the Qur’an is a might y 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 Answer:'''All the Words and Letters of 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. | |||
''' | |||
Every thing in the world ascribes every other thing to its own Creator. And every artistically fashioned object in this world demonstrates that all such objects are the works of its own fashioner. And every creative act in the universe proves that all creative acts are the acts of its author. And every name that is manifested in beings indicates that all names are the names and titles of the one whom it signifies. That is to say, every thing is a direct proof of divine unity and a window yielding knowledge of God. | |||
An 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 every object ascribes every other object to its own fashioner, every act ascribes every other act 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 all objects ascribe all other objects to their fashioner, and all creative acts attribute all other acts to its author, in exactly the same way, every divine name manifested in the universe ascribes every other name to the One whom it describes and proves that they are His titles. For the names manifested in the universe are like intersecting circles, blending one with the other 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 benevolently. 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. | |||
This means that 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 kindly, is His too. And the name of Provider, which sustains all animate creatures munificently, is His name and title. And so on. | |||
That is to say, every name, every act, every object is a proof of divine unity, and a proof that is a stamp of divine unity (vahdaniyet) and a seal of divine oneness (ehadiyet) which has been inscribed on the pages of the universe and on the lines of the centuries. All of them indicate 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 have said is, ‘There is no god but God.’”(*<ref>*Muwatta’, Qur’an, 32; Hajj 246; al-‘Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa’, i, 353; al-Albani, Sahih al-Jami’ al- Saghir, no: 1113.</ref>)and to his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. | ||
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=== | ===Fifth Matter=== | ||
'''Secondly:'''You ask in your letter whether “There is no god but God” is sufficient on its own. That is, intending the second part, you ask: can someone who does not say “Muhammad is the Messenger of God” find salvation? The answer to this is lengthy, so for now we shall only say this: | |||
''' | |||
The two parts of the confession of faith cannot be separated; they prove each other, comprise each other; one cannot be without the other. Since the Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was the Seal of the Prophets and the heir of all the prophets, he is at the start of all the ways leading to God. There can be no way to reality and salvation outside his mighty highway. All the leading gnostics and verifiers of reality have said like Sa‘di Shirazi: | |||
“It is impossible, Sa‘di, to be victorious on the way of salvation, except by following Mustafa.” They also said: “All ways are closed except the highway of Muhammad.” | |||
However, it sometimes happens that people are on the highway of Muhammad (UWBP) and within it, but are not aware of it. | |||
And it sometimes happens that they do not know the Prophet (UWBP), but the road they have taken is part of his highway. | |||
It happens too that because they are in a state of ecstasy or entirely immersed in contemplation or have withdrawn from the world, they do not think of the highway of Muhammad, and “There is no god but God” is sufficient for them. | |||
Nevertheless, the most important side of the matter is this: non-acceptance is one thing, while the acceptance of non-being is another.Ecstatics and recluses or those who have not heard or are uninformed about it, do not know the Prophet (UWBP) or they do not think of him that they might accept him. They are ignorant in that respect. They know “There is no god but God” only in respect of esoteric knowledge of Him. They may well be saved. | |||
But if those people who have heard of the Prophet (UWBP) and know his message do not affirm him, they do not recognize Almighty God. For them, the phrase “There is no god but God” on its own does not express divine unity, the affirmation of which is a means of salvation. For this is not ignorant non-acceptance, which may be excusable to a degree, it is rather the acceptance of non-being, which is denial. The person who denies Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace), who with his miracles and works was the pride of the universe and glory of mankind, certainly cannot receive any light and will not recognize God. However, that is enough for now. | |||
< | <span id="Altıncı_Mesele"></span> | ||
=== | ===Sixth Matter=== | ||
'''Thirdly:'''Some of the terms used in the First Topic, which is about Satan’s way and is called Dispute With the Devil, were very vehement, although they were modified with expressions like “God forbid! God forbid!” and “to suppose the impossible.” They still make me tremble. There were a few small modifications in the piece that was later sent to you; have you been able to correct your copy accordingly? It’s up to you to do what you think; you can skip any of the expressions you think unnecessary. | |||
''' | |||
My dear brother, that Topic holds great importance, because Satan is the atheists’master. Only when he is silenced will his imitators cease to be deceived. The fact that the All-Wise Qur’an mentions the unbelievers’ vile expressions gave me courage. In order to demonstrate the complete worthlessness of that diabolical way, trembling and by way of supposing the impossible, I used the ridiculous expressions the members of Satan’s Party are compelled by their way to accept and which willy nilly they utter through its tongue. And by using them, we cornered them at the bottom of the well and took possession of the whole field on account of the Qur’an; we exposed their frauds. Consider the victory through the following comparison: | |||
For example, let us imagine a tall minaret the top of which touches the skies, and at the base of which a well has been dug that goes down to the centre of the earth. Two groups are disputing over proving where, between the top of the minaret and the bottom of the well, a man stands for his call to prayer to be heard by all the people throughout the country. | |||
The first group says: “He has to be at the top of the minaret reciting the call to prayer to the universe, because we hear it. It is vibrant; it is lofty. For sure everyone cannot see him in that high position, but everyone can see him according to their degree on one of the steps when he climbs the minaret and when he descends it. They know that he ascends it, and that wherever it is that he appears, he is someone of high stature.” | |||
However, the other, satanic and foolish, group says: “No, his position is not at the top of the minaret; it’s at the bottom of the well, wherever it is he appears.” | |||
But no one at all has seen him at the bottom of the well, nor can they see him there. Let us suppose he was as heavy and lacking in will as a stone; surely he would have been at the bottom of the well and someone would have seen him there. | |||
Now, the battlefield of these two opposing groups is the long distance stretching from the top of the minaret to the bottom of the well. The people of light, called God’s Party, point out the mu’ezzin at the top of the minaret to those with a lofty view. And to those whose sight cannot rise that far and to the short-sighted, they point him out on a step each according to his degree. A slight hint is enough for them, proving that the mu’ezzin is not a lifeless block of stone, but a perfect man who climbs upwards and appears and makes the call to prayer when he wishes. | |||
As for the other group, known as Satan’s Party, they pronounce stupidly: “Show him to everyone at the top of the minaret, or else his place is the bottom of the well.” In their folly they do not know that he is not shown to everyone at the top of the minaret because everyone’s sight does not rise that far. Also, in exaggerated fashion, they want to claim possession of the whole distance with the exception of the top of the minaret. | |||
Then someone appears intending to solve the dispute between the two communities. He says to Satan’s Party: “You inauspicious group! If the supreme mu’ezzin’s position was at the bottom of the well, he would have been as lifeless, inanimate, and powerless as a stone. It could not have been him who appeared on the well’s steps and minaret’s degrees. Since you saw him on the latter, he is certain not to be powerless and lifeless. His position must be at the top of the minaret. In which case, either show that he is at the bottom of the well – which you can’t, nor can you make anyone believe that he is there – or be silent! The arena of your defence is the well bottom. The remaining space and that long distance is the arena of this blessed community; they have only to point him out somewhere other than at the bottom of the well, to win the case.” | |||
Like this comparison, the Topic about the dispute with the Devil takes the long distance from the divine throne to the ground from Satan’s Party and forcibly drives them into a corner. It leaves the most irrational, the most impossible, the most loathsome place to them. It drives them into a hole so narrow no one could enter it and takes possession of the entire distance in the name of the Qur’an. | |||
If they are asked what the Qur’an is and they reply: “It is a good book, written by man, that teaches good morality,” | |||
they should be told: “It must then be the Word of God and you have to accept it as such, for according to your way, you cannot say that it is ‘good’!” | |||
If they are asked what they know about the Prophet (UWBP), and they reply: “He was a very clever person with good morals,” they should be told: | |||
“You should believe in him in that case, because if he was very moral and clever, he must have been God’s Messenger. You say he was ‘good,’ but that is unacceptable according to your creed; you can’t say that.” And so on. Further aspects of the reality can be applied to other facets of the comparison. | |||
In consequence, the First Topic, in which the Devil is disputed with, does not mean that the believers have to know about the miracles of Muhammad (UWBP) and learn about their certain proofs in order to preserve their faith. A slight hint, a small indication, will save it. All the deeds, all the qualities, all the conduct of Muhammad (UWBP) are miracles of a sort, proving that his position is at the highest of the high, not at the lowest of the low at the bottom of the well. | |||
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=== | ===Seventh Matter=== | ||
An instructive matter: | |||
Because some of my friends have groundless worries and are becoming dispirited, I am obliged to relate a dominical favour and an instance of divine protection which pertain solely to service of the Qur’an, in order to strengthen their morale, and since they have that weak vein of temperament, to save them. | |||
What I have to say is suggested by seven signs. Four of them show how those friends received blows entirely contrary to their intentions, as a result of their taking up hostile positions towards me not personally but because I serve the Qur’an, purely for worldly aims and despite being friends. | |||
< | [The three other signs denote earnest and constant friends who in order to find favour with the worldly(*<ref>*“The worldly” (ehl-i dünya): those people whose view is restricted to the life of this world, and who disregard the hereafter, or those who sell religion for this world. (Tr.)</ref>)and achieve some worldly goal, and so that they could feel confident, temporaril y failed to display the manly stance demanded by friendship. However, regretably, all those three friends were punished in ways that were the opposite of what they had intended.] | ||
</ | |||
The first four, who were seemingly friends but later displayed enmity: | |||
'''The First:'''Employing various means, a District Officer begged me for a copy of the Tenth Word. I gave him one. But then, in order to be promoted, he spurned my friendship and turned hostile to me. This took the form of complaining to the Governor and informing on me. But as a mark of favour for service of the Qur’an, he was not promoted, but dismissed. | |||
''' | |||
'''The Second:'''Another District Officer assumed a competitive and hostile stance towards me although he was a friend, for the sake of his superiors and to attract the attention of the worldly, but he received a blow contrary to his intentions. He was sentenced to two and a half years’ imprisonment owing to some unforeseen matter. Later he asked for prayers from a servant of the Qur’an. Perhaps he will be saved, God willing, since prayers were offered for him. | |||
''' | |||
'''The Third:'''A teacher appeared to be a friend and I looked on him as one. Then he moved to Barla to settle there and he chose to adopt a hostile stance. But he received a blow contrary to his intentions: he was posted away from teaching to serve in the army. He was sent away from Barla. | |||
''' | |||
'''The Fourth:'''There was a teacher, who because he seemed to me to be both a hafiz(*<ref>*Hafız: a person who has memorized the whole Qur’an. (Tr.)</ref>)and pious, I was sincerely friendly towards him in the hope that he would show friendship to me by serving the Qur’an. Then, in order to curry favour with the worldly, he behaved very coldly towards us and was frightened, because of one single thing an official had said. He too received a blow contrary to his intentions: he was severely reprimanded by the inspector, and dismissed. | |||
''' | |||
These four men received those blows because of their animosity. However, the following three friends did not display the manly attitude that serious friendship demands, and so received not blows, but warnings contrary to their intentions, which were admonitions of a sort. | |||
'''The First:'''A respected person who was a most important, serious, and true student of mine used to write out the Words continually and disseminate them. But when a confused high official arrived and an incident occurred, he hid the Words he had written. He also temporarily gave up copying them out in the hope that he would not suffer any difficulty or hardship at the hands of the worldly and would be safe from their evil. But as a mark of his error of temporarily ceasing to serve the Qur’an, for a year he continuously suffered the calamity of having a thousand-lira fine hanging over him, which he had to pay.Then the moment he formed the intention to write out more copies and returned to his former position, he was cleared in the case, till finally, praise be to God, he was acquitted. He was poor and needy, and was saved from paying a thousand liras. | |||
''' | |||
'''The Second:'''Intending to gain the good opinion of the worldly and the new officer, a courageous, serious, and bold friend of mine of five years’ standing unthinkingly and involuntarily did not meet with me for several months, despite being my neighbour. He did not even pay me a visit during Ramadan or the Festival. But the village question turned out exactly the opposite of what he had intended, and he lost his influence. | |||
''' | |||
'''The Third:'''A hafiz who used to visit me once or twice a week became the prayer-leader, and so that he could wear the turban, deserted me for two months. He did not even visit me during the Festival. But contrary to his intention, and contrary to usual practice, he was not allowed to wear a turban, even after seven or eight months. | |||
''' | |||
There have been numerous incidents like these, but I have not mentioned them so as not to offend the people concerned. Each of them is only a sign, but when they are put together one perceives a strength. It gives one the conviction that – not directed towards myself, for I do not consider myself worthy of any favour, but purely in respect of serving the Qur’an – we carry out that service under dominical protection and through divine grace. My friends should think of this and not be carried away by groundless fears. | |||
I have explained these things to them privately because our service is a divine bestowal, and because it is the cause of thanks not pride, and because the Qur’an commands:But the bounty of your Sustainer rehearse and proclaim.(93:11) | |||
< | <span id="Sekizinci_Mesele"></span> | ||
=== | ===Eighth Matter=== | ||
[This forms the footnote to the third example in the Third Point about the fifth of the obstacles to making independent judgements of the divine law (ijtihad), in the Twenty-Seventh Word.] | |||
'''An Important Question:'''Some of the verifiers of reality have said that each of the words of the Qur’an and of supplications and other glorifications of God illuminate man’s spiritual faculties in numerous ways, providing spiritual sustenance. But if the meanings are not known, just to say the words is insufficient. The words are a garment; would it not be more useful if they were changed, and every group clothed the meanings in words of their own language? | |||
''' | |||
'''The Answer:''' The words of the Qur’an and of the glorifications of the Prophet (UWBP) are not lifeless garments; they are like the living skin of a body; indeed, with the passage of time, they have become the skin. Garments are changed, but the body would be harmed if the skin were to be changed. Blessed words like those of the five daily prayers and the call to prayer have become the mark and sign of their usual meanings. And marks and signs cannot be changed. | |||
''' | |||
I have often observed in myself an inner state which I experience. It is a fact, and is this: | |||
< | On the Day of ‘Arafa, the eve of the Festival of Sacrifices, I used to recite Sura al-Ikhlas hundreds of times.(*<ref>*For Hadiths about the merits of reciting Sura al-Ikhlas (Sura 112) specific numbers of times, see, Tirmidhi, Fada’il al-Qur’an, 11; Musnad, iii, 437; Darimi, Fada’il al-Qur’an, 24; al-Suyuti, al-Fath al- Kabir, iii, 227; Bayhaqi, Shu’ab al-Iman, ii, 506-8. </ref>)I would observe that some of the non-physical senses in me would receive the sustenance several times, then would cease to do so and stop. | ||
Others like the faculty of reflective thought would turn towards the meaning for a time, receive their share, then they too would stop. And some like the heart would receive their share in respect of certain concepts that yielded a spiritual pleasure, then they too would fall silent. And so on. | |||
</ | |||
Gradually, with repetition only a few of the subtle faculties would remain, becoming wearied long after the others. They would persist, leaving no need for further study and meanings. Heedlessness did not have an adverse effect on them, as it did on the faculty of thought. The usual meanings, of which they were the marks and signs, and abbreviated meanings of the expressive words, were enough for them. To think of the meaning at that point would have caused harmful boredom. Anyway, the subtle faculties that persist do not need to study and comprehend but to recollect, turn towards, and be prompted. And the words that are like skin are sufficient for them and perform the duty of meaning. They are means of constant effulgence especially when it is recalled through those Arabic words that they are the Word of God and divine speech. | |||
This state, which I myself experienced, shows that it is extremely harmful to express in another language truths like the call to prayer and the tesbihat following the obligatory prayers, and frequently repeated Suras of the Qur’an like Fatiha and Ikhlas. | |||
For when the perpetual spring of the divine words and words of the Prophet (UWBP) are lost, the perpetual share of those perpetual subtle faculties is also lost. Also harmful are the loss of the minimum of ten merits for each word, and the heedlessness and darkness of spirit caused by the human terms of the translations, since the constant sense of the divine presence does continue for everyone throughout the prayers. | |||
Yes, just like Imam-i A‘zam said that “There is no god but God” is the mark and sign of the affirmation of divine unity, so we say the following: the great majority of the words of divine glorification and praise, and especially of those of the call to prayer and obligatory prayers, have come to be marks and signs. Like signs, their usual Sharî‘î meanings are understood, rather than their literal meanings. So according to the Shari‘a, it is not possible to change them. | |||
Even an uneducated man can learn the gist of them, which all believers should know; that is, their meanings in summary. How can those people who pass their whole lives with Islam yet fill their heads with endless trivia be excused from learning in one or two weeks the gist of what these blessed words mean, which are the key to eternal life? How can they be Muslims? How can they be called “reasonable people”? It surely is not reasonable to destroy the protective cases of those springs of light for the sake of lazy loafers like them! | |||
Furthermore, whatever nation a person belongs to, he understands from “Subhanallah! Glory be to God!” that he is declaring Almighty God free of all defect. Isn’t this enough? If he inclines towards the meaning in his own language, he will study it once with his intellect. But if he repeats it a hundred times a day in its proper form, apart from his intellect’s share of studying, the gist of it, which is derived from the words and spreads and blends with them, will produce many lights and much effulgence. The sacredness he receives from the words being divine speech, and the effulgence and lights proceeding from the sacredness, are especially important. | |||
'''In Short:'''Nothing at all can replace the sacred divine words that are the protective cases of the essentials of religion, and nothing can substitute them, and nothing else can perform their functions. | |||
''' | |||
Even if they can express them temporarily, they cannot do so permanently or in sacred and elevated fashion. As for the words that are the protective cases of the theoretical matters of religion, there is no necessit y for them to be changed. For such a need is met by preaching, teaching, advice, and other instruction. | |||
'''To Conclude:'''The comprehensiveness of the grammatical Arabic language and the miraculousness of the Qur’an’s words make them untranslat able. I can say even that their translation is impossible. Anyone who doubts this should refer to the Twenty-Fifth Word. What they call translations are abbreviated, deficient approximations. How can such approximations be compared with the living, true meanings of the Qur’an’s verses, which have many aspects of ramification? | |||
''' | |||
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=== | ===Ninth Matter=== | ||
[An important, confidential matter, and a mystery related to sainthood.] | |||
The 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 faith by following to the letter the illustrious practices (T. sünnet; Ar. sunna) of the Prophet (UWBP) 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. This group has even gone so far as to declare some of those saints 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 may not 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 inward states.” | |||
Unfortunately, intending to protect the Sunni way, the first group, 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 from 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; rather, 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 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. | |||
Sultan Mehmed | |||
Others sometimes 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. | |||
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=== | ===Tenth Matter=== | ||
[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 divine court, and binding our hearts to Almighty God and seeking success and guidance, to work together in the service of the All-Wise Qur’an. | |||
''' | |||
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,”(*<ref>*See, Bukhari, Salat, 88; Adab, 36; Mazalim, 5; Muslim, Birr, 18; Nasa’i, Zakat, 67; Musnad, iv, 405, | ||
409.</ref>)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!(2:32) | |||
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!”(7:43) | |||
O 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. | |||
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<center> [[Yirmi Beşinci Mektup]] ⇐ | [[Mektubat]] | ⇒ [[Yirmi Yedinci Mektup]] </center> | <center> [[Yirmi Beşinci Mektup/en|The Twenty-Fifth Letter]] ⇐ | [[Mektubat/en|The Letters]] | ⇒ [[Yirmi Yedinci Mektup/en|The Twenty-Seventh Letter]] </center> | ||
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