Yirmi Birinci Söz/en: Revizyonlar arasındaki fark

    Risale-i Nur Tercümeleri sitesinden
    ("In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate." içeriğiyle yeni sayfa oluşturdu)
    ("------ <center> The Twentieth Word ⇐ | The Words | ⇒ The Twenty-Second Word </center> ------" içeriğiyle yeni sayfa oluşturdu)
     
    (Aynı kullanıcının aradaki diğer 65 değişikliği gösterilmiyor)
    8. satır: 8. satır:
    In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.  
    In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.  


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    For such Prayers are enjoined on believers at stated times.(*<ref>*Qur’an, 4:103.</ref>)
    اِنَّ الصَّلٰوةَ كَانَت۟ عَلَى ال۟مُؤ۟مِنٖينَ كِتَابًا مَو۟قُوتًا
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    One time, a man great in age, physique, and rank said to me: “The prayers are fine, but to perform them every single day five times is excessive. Since they never end, it becomes wearying.”
    Bir zaman sinnen, cismen, rütbeten büyük bir adam bana dedi: “Namaz iyidir. Fakat her gün her gün beşer defa kılmak çoktur. Bitmediğinden usanç veriyor.”
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    A long time after the man said these words, I listened to my soul and I heard it say exactly the same things. I looked at it and saw that with the ear of laziness, it was receiving the same lesson from Satan. Then I understood that those words were as though said in the name of all evil-commanding souls, or else they had been prompted. So I said: “Since my soul commands to evil, one who does not reform his own soul cannot reform others. In which case, I shall begin with my own soul.”
    O zatın o sözünden hayli zaman geçtikten sonra, nefsimi dinledim. İşittim ki aynı sözleri söylüyor ve ona baktım gördüm ki tembellik kulağıyla şeytandan aynı dersi alıyor. O vakit anladım o zat o sözü, bütün nüfus-u emmarenin namına söylemiş gibidir veya söylettirilmiştir. O zaman ben dahi dedim: “Madem nefsim emmaredir. '''Nefsini ıslah etmeyen, başkasını ıslah edemez.''' Öyle ise nefsimden başlarım.”
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    I said: O soul! Listen to five ‘Warnings’ in response to those words which you uttered  in  compounded  ignorance, on  the  couch  of  idleness, in  the  slumber  of heedlessness.
    Dedim: Ey nefis! Cehl-i mürekkeb içinde, tembellik döşeğinde, gaflet uykusunda söylediğin şu söze mukabil '''beş ikazı''' benden işit.
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    <span id="BİRİNCİ_İKAZ"></span>
    === BİRİNCİ İKAZ ===
    ===FIRST WARNING===
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    O my wretched soul! Is your life eternal, I wonder? Have you any incontrovertible document showing that you will live to next year, or even to tomorrow? What causes you boredom is that you fancy  you shall live for ever. You complain as though you will remain in this world to enjoy yourself for ever. If you had understood that your life is brief and that it is departing fruitlessly, it surely would not cause you boredom, but excite a real eagerness and agreeable pleasure to spend one hour out of the  twenty-four on a fine, agreeable, easy, and merciful act of service which is a means of gaining the true happiness of eternal life.
    Ey bedbaht nefsim! Acaba ömrün ebedî midir? Hiç kat’î senedin var mı ki gelecek seneye belki yarına kadar kalacaksın? Sana usanç veren, tevehhüm-ü ebediyettir. Keyif için ebedî dünyada kalacak gibi nazlanıyorsun. Eğer anlasa idin ki ömrün azdır hem faydasız gidiyor. Elbette onun yirmi dörtten birisini, hakiki bir hayat-ı ebediyenin saadetine medar olacak bir güzel ve hoş ve rahat ve rahmet bir hizmete sarf etmek; usanmak şöyle dursun, belki ciddi bir iştiyak ve hoş bir zevki tahrike sebep olur.
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    <span id="İKİNCİ_İKAZ"></span>
    === İKİNCİ İKAZ ===
    ===SECOND WARNING===
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    O my stomach-worshipping soul! Every day you eat bread, drink water, and breathe air; do they cause you boredom? They do not, because since the need is repeated, it is not boredom that they cause, but  pleasure. In which case, the five daily prayers should not cause you boredom, for they attract the needs of your companions in the house of my body, the sustenance of my heart, the water of life of my spirit, and the air of my subtle faculties.
    Ey şikem-perver nefsim! Acaba her gün her gün ekmek yersin, su içersin, havayı teneffüs edersin; sana onlar usanç veriyor mu? Madem vermiyor çünkü ihtiyaç tekerrür ettiğinden usanç değil belki telezzüz ediyorsun. Öyle ise hane-i cismimde senin arkadaşların olan kalbimin gıdası, ruhumun âb-ı hayatı ve latîfe-i Rabbaniyemin hava-yı nesîmini cezb ve celbeden namaz dahi seni usandırmamak gerektir.
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    Yes, it  is  by  knocking  through  supplication  on  the  door  of  One  All- Compassionate and Munificent that sustenance and strength may be obtained for a heart afflicted with infinite griefs and sorrows and captivated by infinite pleasures and hopes.
    Evet, nihayetsiz teessürat ve elemlere maruz ve müptela ve nihayetsiz telezzüzata ve emellere meftun ve pür-sevda bir kalbin kut ve kuvveti, her şeye kādir bir Rahîm-i Kerîm’in kapısını niyaz ile çalmakla elde edilebilir.
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    And it is by turning towards the spring of mercy of an Eternal Beloved through the five daily prayers that the water  of life may be imbibed by a spirit connected with most beings, which swiftly depart from this  transitory world crying out at separation.
    Evet, şu fâni dünyada kemal-i süratle vaveylâ-yı firakı koparan giden ekser mevcudatla alâkadar bir ruhun âb-ı hayatı ise her şeye bedel bir Mabud-u Bâki’nin, bir Mahbub-u Sermedî’nin çeşme-i rahmetine namaz ile teveccüh etmekle içilebilir.
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    And being most needy for air  in the sorrowful, crushing,  distressing, transient, dark, and suffocating conditions of this world, it is only through the window of the prayers that a conscious inner sense and luminous subtle faculty can breathe, which by its nature desires eternal life and was created for eternity and is a mirror of the Pre-Eternal and Post- Eternal One and is infinitely delicate and subtle.
    Evet, fıtraten ebediyeti isteyen ve ebed için halk olunan ve ezelî ve ebedî bir zatın âyinesi olan ve nihayetsiz derecede nazik ve letafetli bulunan zîşuur bir sırr-ı insanî, zînur bir latîfe-i Rabbaniye; şu kasavetli, ezici ve sıkıntılı, geçici ve zulümatlı ve boğucu olan ahval-i dünyeviye içinde, elbette teneffüse pek çok muhtaçtır ve ancak namazın penceresiyle nefes alabilir.
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    <span id="ÜÇÜNCÜ_İKAZ"></span>
    === ÜÇÜNCÜ İKAZ ===
    ===THIRD WARNING===
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    O my impatient soul! Is it at all sensible to think today of past hardships of worship, difficulties of the prayers, and troubles of misfortune, and be distressed, and to imagine the future duties of worship, service of the prayers, and sorrows of disaster, and display impatience?
    Ey sabırsız nefsim! Acaba geçmiş günlerdeki ibadet külfetini ve namazın meşakkatini ve musibet zahmetini, bugün düşünüp muzdarip olmak hem gelecek günlerdeki ibadet vazifesini ve namaz hizmetini ve musibet elemini, bugün tasavvur edip sabırsızlık göstermek hiç kâr-ı akıl mıdır?
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    In being thus impatient you resemble a foolish commander, who, although the enemy’s right flank joined his right flank and became  fresh forces for him, sent a significant force to the right flank, and weakened the centre. Then, while there were no enemy soldiers on the left flank, he sent a large force there, and gave them the order to fire. No forces then remained in the centre, and the enemy understood this and attacked it and routed him.
    Şu sabırsızlıkta misalin şöyle bir sersem kumandana benzer ki: Düşmanın sağ cenah kuvveti onun sağındaki kuvvetine iltihak etmiş ve ona taze bir kuvvet olduğu halde; o tutar mühim bir kuvvetini sağ cenaha gönderir, merkezi zayıflaştırır. Hem sol cenahta düşmanın askeri yok iken ve daha gelmeden, büyük bir kuvvet gönderir “Ateş et!” emrini verir. Merkezi bütün bütün kuvvetten düşürtür. Düşman işi anlar, merkeze hücum eder, târumar eder.
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    Yes, you resemble this, for the troubles of yesterday have today been transformed into mercy; the pain has gone while the pleasure remains. The difficulty has been turned into blessings, and the hardship into reward. In which case, you should not feel wearied at it, but make a serious effort to continue with a new eagerness and fresh enthusiasm. As for future days, they have not yet arrived, and to think of them now and feel bored and wearied is a lunacy like thinking today of future hunger and thirst, and starting to shout and cry out.
    Evet, buna benzersin. Çünkü geçmiş günlerin zahmeti, bugün rahmete kalbolmuş; elemi gitmiş, lezzeti kalmış. Külfeti, keramete iltihak ve meşakkati, sevaba inkılab etmiş. Öyle ise ondan usanç almak değil belki yeni bir şevk, taze bir zevk ve devama ciddi bir gayret almak lâzım gelir. Gelecek günler ise madem gelmemişler. Şimdiden düşünüp usanmak ve fütur getirmek aynen o günlerde açlığı ve susuzluğu ile bugün düşünüp bağırıp çağırmak gibi bir divaneliktir.
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    Since the truth is this, if you are reasonable, you will think of only today in connection with worship, and  say:  “I  am spending one  hour of it  on an agreeable, pleasant, and elevated act of service, the reward for which is high and whose trouble is little.” Then your bitter dispiritedness will be transformed into sweet endeavour.
    Madem hakikat böyledir. Âkıl isen ibadet cihetinde yalnız bugünü düşün ve onun bir saatini, ücreti pek büyük, külfeti pek az, hoş ve güzel ve ulvi bir hizmete sarf ediyorum, de. O vakit senin acı bir füturun, tatlı bir gayrete inkılab eder.
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    My impatient soul! You are charged with being patient in three respects.
    İşte ey sabırsız nefsim! Sen üç sabır ile mükellefsin.
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    One is patience in worship.
    '''Birisi:''' Taat üstünde sabırdır.
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    Another is patience in refraining from sin.
    '''Birisi:''' Masiyetten sabırdır.
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    And a third is patience in the face of disaster.(*<ref>*Suyuti, al-Durar al-Muntathira, 46; Suyuti, al-Fath al-Kabir, ii, 200.</ref>)
    '''Diğeri:''' Musibete karşı sabırdır.
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    If you are intelligent, take as your guide the truth apparent in the comparison in this Third Warning. Say in  manly fashion: “O Most Patient One!”, and shoulder the three sorts of patience. If you do not squander on the wrong way the forces of patience Almighty God has given you, they should be enough to  withstand every difficulty and disaster. So hold out with those forces!
    Aklın varsa şu üçüncü ikazdaki temsilde görünen hakikati rehber tut. Merdane “Yâ Sabûr!” de, üç sabrı omuzuna al. Cenab-ı Hakk’ın sana verdiği sabır kuvvetini, eğer yanlış yolda dağıtmazsan her meşakkate ve her musibete kâfi gelebilir ve o kuvvetle dayan.
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    <span id="DÖRDÜNCÜ_İKAZ"></span>
    === DÖRDÜNCÜ İKAZ ===
    ===FOURTH WARNING===
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    O my foolish soul! Is this duty of worship without result, and is its recompense little that it causes you weariness? Whereas if someone was to give you a little money, or to intimidate you, he could  make  you work till evening, and you would work without slacking.
    Ey sersem nefsim! Acaba şu vazife-i ubudiyet neticesiz midir, ücreti az mıdır ki sana usanç veriyor? Halbuki bir adam sana birkaç para verse veyahut seni korkutsa akşama kadar seni çalıştırır ve fütursuz çalışırsın.
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    So is it that the prescribed prayers are without result, which in this guest-house of the world are sustenance and wealth for your impotent  and weak heart, and in your grave, which will be a certain dwelling-place for you, sustenance and light,  and at the Resurrection, when you will anyway be judged, a document and patent, and on the Bridge  of Sirat, over which you are bound to pass, a light and a mount? Are their recompense little? Someone promises you a present worth a hundred liras, and makes you work for a hundred days. You trust  the man who may go back on his word and work without slacking.
    Acaba bu misafirhane-i dünyada âciz ve fakir kalbine kut ve gına ve elbette bir menzilin olan kabrinde gıda ve ziya ve herhalde mahkemen olan mahşerde senet ve berat ve ister istemez üstünden geçilecek sırat köprüsünde nur ve burak olacak bir namaz, neticesiz midir veyahut ücreti az mıdır? Bir adam sana yüz liralık bir hediye vaad etse yüz gün seni çalıştırır. Hulfü’l-vaad edebilir o adama itimat edersin, fütursuz işlersin.
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    So if One for Whom the breaking of a promise is impossible, promises you recompense like Paradise and a gift like eternal happiness, and  employs you for a very short time in a very agreeable duty, if you do not perform that service, or you act accusingly towards His promise or slight  His gift  by performing  it  unwillingly like someone forced to work, or by being bored, or by working in half-hearted fashion, you will deserve a severe reprimand and awesome punishment. Have you not thought of this? Although you serve without flagging  in the heaviest work in this world out of fear of imprisonment, does  the  fear  of  an  eternal  incarceration  like  Hell  not  fill  you  with enthusiasm for a truly light and agreeable act of service?
    Acaba hulfü’l-vaad, hakkında muhal olan bir zat, cennet gibi bir ücreti ve saadet-i ebediye gibi bir hediyeyi sana vaad etse pek az bir zamanda, pek güzel bir vazifede seni istihdam etse; sen hizmet etmezsen veya isteksiz, suhre gibi veya usançla, yarım yamalak hizmetinle onu vaadinde ittiham ve hediyesini istihfaf etsen pek şiddetli bir te’dibe ve dehşetli bir tazibe müstahak olacağını düşünmüyor musun? Dünyada hapsin korkusundan en ağır işlerde fütursuz hizmet ettiğin halde; cehennem gibi bir haps-i ebedînin havfı, en hafif ve latîf bir hizmet için sana gayret vermiyor mu?
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    <span id="BEŞİNCİ_İKAZ"></span>
    === BEŞİNCİ İKAZ ===
    ===FIFTH WARNING===
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    O my world-worshipping soul! Does your slackness in worship and remissness in the prescribed  prayers arise from the multiplicity of your worldly occupations, or because you cannot find time due to the struggle for livelihood? Were you created only for this world that you spend all your time on it?
    Ey dünya-perest nefsim! Acaba ibadetteki füturun ve namazdaki kusurun meşâgil-i dünyeviyenin kesretinden midir veyahut derd-i maişetin meşgalesiyle vakit bulamadığından mıdır? Acaba sırf dünya için mi yaratılmışsın ki bütün vaktini ona sarf ediyorsun!
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    You know that in regard to your abilities you are superior to all the animals, but in regard to procuring the necessities of worldly life you cannot compete with even a sparrow. So why can you not understand that your basic duty is not to labour like an animal, but to strive for a true, perpetual life, like a true human being.
    Sen istidat cihetiyle bütün hayvanatın fevkinde olduğunu ve hayat-ı dünyeviyenin levazımatını tedarikte iktidar cihetiyle, bir serçe kuşuna yetişemediğini biliyorsun. Bundan neden anlamıyorsun ki vazife-i asliyen hayvan gibi çabalamak değil, belki hakiki bir insan gibi hakiki bir hayat-ı daime için sa’y etmektir.
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    In addition, the things you call worldly occupations mostly do not concern you, and are trivial matters which  you meddle in officiously. You neglect the essential things and pass your time acquiring inessential information as though you were going to live for a thousand years. For example, you squander your  precious time on worthless things like learning what the rings around Saturn are like or how many chickens there are in America. As though you were becoming an expert in astronomy or statistics.
    Bununla beraber meşâgil-i dünyeviye dediğin, çoğu sana ait olmayan ve fuzulî bir surette karıştığın ve karıştırdığın malayani meşgalelerdir. En elzemini bırakıp güya binler sene ömrün var gibi en lüzumsuz malûmat ile vakit geçiriyorsun. Mesela, “Zühal’in etrafındaki halkaların keyfiyeti nasıldır?” ve “Amerika tavukları ne kadardır?” gibi kıymetsiz şeylerle kıymettar vaktini geçiriyorsun. Güya kozmoğrafya ilminden ve istatistikçi fenninden bir kemal alıyorsun.
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    '''If you say:''' “What keeps me from the prayers and worship and causes me to be lax is not unnecessary things like that, but essential matters like earning a livelihood,”
    '''Eğer desen:''' “Beni namazdan ve ibadetten alıkoyan ve fütur veren öyle lüzumsuz şeyler değil, belki derd-i maişetin zarurî işleridir.
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    then my answer is this: if you work for a daily wage of one hundred kurush, and someone comes to you and says: “Come and dig here for ten minutes, and you will find a brilliant and an emerald worth a hundred liras.” If you reply: “No, I won’t come, because ten kurush will be cut from my wage and my subsistence will be less,” of course you understand what a foolish pretext it would be.
    '''Öyle ise ben de sana derim ki:''' Eğer yüz kuruş bir gündelik ile çalışsan sonra biri gelse, dese ki: “Gel on dakika kadar şurayı kaz, yüz lira kıymetinde bir pırlanta ve bir zümrüt bulacaksın.” Sen ona: “Yok, gelmem. Çünkü on kuruş gündeliğimden kesilecek, nafakam azalacak.desen, ne kadar divanece bir bahane olduğunu elbette bilirsin.
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    In just the same way, you work in this orchard for  your livelihood. If you abandon the obligatory prayers, all the fruits of your effort will be restricted to only a worldly, unimportant, and unproductive livelihood. But if you spend your rest periods on the  prayers, which allow your spirit to relax and heart to take a breather, you  will  discover  two  mines  which  are  an  important  source, both  for  a productive worldly livelihood, and your livelihood and provisions of the hereafter.
    Aynen onun gibi sen şu bağında, nafakan için işliyorsun. Eğer farz namazı terk etsen bütün sa’yin semeresi, yalnız dünyevî ve ehemmiyetsiz ve bereketsiz bir nafakaya münhasır kalır. Eğer sen istirahat ve teneffüs vaktini, ruhun rahatına, kalbin teneffüsüne medar olan namaza sarf etsen o vakit, bereketli nafaka-i dünyeviye ile beraber, senin nafaka-i uhreviyene ve zâd-ı âhiretine ehemmiyetli bir menba olan, iki maden-i manevî bulursun:
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    First Mine: Through a sound intention, you will receive a share of the praises and glorifications offered by all the plants and trees, whether flowering or fruit-bearing, that you grow in the garden.(*<ref>*This First Station was a lesson for someone in a garden, so it was explained in this way.</ref>)
    '''Birinci maden:''' Bütün bağındaki (Hâşiye<ref>'''Hâşiye:''' Bu makam, bir bağda bir zata bir derstir ki bu tarz ile beyan edilmiş. </ref>) yetiştirdiğin –çiçekli olsun, meyveli olsun– her nebatın, her ağacın tesbihatından, güzel bir niyet ile bir hisse alıyorsun.
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    '''Second Mine:''' Whatever is eaten of the garden’s produce, whether by animals or man, cattle or flies, buyers or thieves, it will become like almsgiving from you.(*<ref>*Bukhari, iii, 135; Muslim, ii, 1189; Ibn Hibban, v, 152; Musnad, iii, 184, 191.</ref>) But on condition you work in the name of the True Provider and within the bounds of what He permits, and see yourself as a distribution official giving His property to His creatures.
    '''İkinci maden:''' Hem bu bağdan çıkan mahsulattan kim yese –hayvan olsun, insan olsun; inek olsun, sinek olsun; müşteri olsun, hırsız olsun– sana bir sadaka hükmüne geçer. Fakat o şart ile ki sen, Rezzak-ı Hakiki namına ve izni dairesinde tasarruf etsen ve onun malını, onun mahlukatına veren bir tevziat memuru nazarıyla kendine baksan…
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    So see what a great loss is made by one who abandons the prescribed prayers. What significant  wealth he loses, and he is deprived of those two results and mines which would otherwise cause him to work eagerly and ensure his morale is strong; he becomes bankrupt. Even, as he grows old, he will grow weary of gardening and lose interest in it, saying, “What is it to me? I am anyway leaving this world, why should I put up with this much difficulty?” He will sink into idleness. But the first man says: “I shall work harder at both worship and licit activities in order to send even more abundant light to my grave and procure more provisions for my life in the hereafter.”
    İşte bak, namazı terk eden ne kadar büyük bir hasaret eder, ne kadar ehemmiyetli bir serveti kaybeder ve sa’ye pek büyük bir şevk veren ve amelde büyük bir kuvve-i manevî temin eden o iki neticeden ve o iki madenden mahrum kalır, iflas eder. Hattâ ihtiyarlandıkça bahçecilikten usanır, fütur gelir. “Neme lâzım.” der. “Ben zaten dünyadan gidiyorum. Bu kadar zahmeti ne için çekeceğim?” diyecek, kendini tembelliğe atacak. Fakat evvelki adam der: “Daha ziyade ibadetle beraber sa’y-i helâle çalışacağım. Tâ kabrime daha ziyade ışık göndereceğim, âhiretime daha ziyade zahîre tedarik edeceğim.”
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    '''In Short:''' O my soul! Know that yesterday has left you, and as for tomorrow, you have nothing to prove that it will be yours. In which case, know that your true life is the present day. So throw at least one of its hours into a mosque or prayer-mat, a coffer for the hereafter like a reserve fund, set up for the true future.
    '''Elhasıl:''' Ey nefis! Bil ki dünkü gün senin elinden çıktı. Yarın ise senin elinde senet yok ki ona mâliksin. Öyle ise hakiki ömrünü, bulunduğun gün bil. Lâekall günün bir saatini, ihtiyat akçesi gibi hakiki istikbal için teşkil olunan bir sandukça-i uhreviye olan bir mescide veya bir seccadeye at.
    </div>


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    Know too that for you and for everyone each new day is the door to a new world. If you do  not perform the prayers, your world that day will depart dark and wretched, and will testify against you  in the World of Similitudes. For everyone, every day, has a private world out of this world, and its nature is dependent on the person’s heart and actions. Like a splendid palace reflected in a mirror takes on the colour of the mirror; if it is black, it appears black; if it is red, it appears red. Also it takes on the qualities of the mirror; if the mirror is smooth, it shows the palace to be beautiful, and if it is not, it shows it to  be ugly. As it shows the most delicate things to be coarse, so you alter the shape of your own world with your heart, mind, actions, and wishes. You may make it testify either for you or against you.
    Hem bil ki her yeni gün, sana hem herkese, bir yeni âlemin kapısıdır. Eğer namaz kılmazsan senin o günkü âlemin zulümatlı ve perişan bir halde gider, senin aleyhinde âlem-i misalde şehadet eder. Zira herkesin, her günde, şu âlemden bir mahsus âlemi var. Hem o âlemin keyfiyeti, o adamın kalbine ve ameline tabidir. Nasıl ki âyinende görünen muhteşem bir saray, âyinenin rengine bakar. Siyah ise siyah görünür. Kırmızı ise kırmızı görünür. Hem onun keyfiyetine bakar. O âyine şişesi düzgün ise sarayı güzel gösterir. Düzgün değil ise çirkin gösterir. En nazik şeyleri kaba gösterdiği misillü sen kalbinle, aklınla, amelinle, gönlünle, kendi âleminin şeklini değiştirirsin. Ya aleyhinde ya lehinde şehadet ettirebilirsin.
    </div>


    <div lang="tr" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
    If you perform the five daily prayers, and through them you are turned towards that world’s Glorious Maker, all of a sudden your world, which looks to you, is lit up. Quite simply as though the prayers are an electric lamp and your intention to perform them touches the switch, they disperse the world’s darkness and show the changes and movements within the confused wretchedness of worldly chaos to be a wise and  purposeful order and a meaningful writing of Divine power.
    Eğer namazı kılsan o namazın ile o âlemin Sâni’-i Zülcelal’ine müteveccih olsan birden, sana bakan âlemin tenevvür eder. Âdeta namazın bir elektrik lambası ve namaza niyetin, onun düğmesine dokunması gibi o âlemin zulümatını dağıtır ve o herc ü merc-i dünyeviyedeki karmakarışık perişaniyet içindeki tebeddülat ve harekât, hikmetli bir intizam ve manidar bir kitabet-i kudret olduğunu gösterir.
    </div>


    <div lang="tr" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
    They scatter one light of the light-filled verse, God is the Light of the Heavens and the Earth(*<ref>*Qur’an, 24:35.</ref>) over your heart, and your world on that day is illuminated through the light’s reflection. It will cause it to testify in your favour through its luminosity.
    اَللّٰهُ نُورُ السَّمٰوَاتِ وَال۟اَر۟ضِ âyet-i pür-envarından bir nuru, senin kalbine serper. Senin o günkü âlemini, o nurun in’ikasıyla ışıklandırır. Senin lehinde nuraniyetle şehadet ettirir.
    </div>


    <div lang="tr" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
    '''Beware, do not say:''' “What are my prayers in comparison with the reality of the prayers?”, because  like  the  seed  of a  date-palm describes  the  full-grown tree, your prayers describe your tree. The difference is only in the summary and details; like the prayers of a great saint, the prayers of ordinary people like you or me, even if they are not aware of it, have a share of that light. There is a mystery in this truth, even if the conscious  mind  does  not  perceive  it... but  the  unfolding  and  illumination  differs according to the degrees of those performing them. However many stages and degrees there are from the seed of a date-palm to the mature tree, the degrees of the prayers and
    '''Sakın deme:''' “Benim namazım nerede, şu hakikat-i namaz nerede?” Zira bir hurma çekirdeği, bir hurma ağacı gibi kendi ağacını tavsif eder. Fark yalnız icmal ve tafsil ile olduğu gibi; senin ve benim gibi bir âmînin –velev hissetmezse– namazı, büyük bir velinin namazı gibi şu nurdan bir hissesi var, şu hakikatten bir sırrı vardır, velev şuurun taalluk etmezse. Fakat derecata göre inkişaf ve tenevvürü ayrı ayrıdır. Nasıl bir hurma çekirdeğinden, tâ mükemmel bir hurma ağacına kadar ne kadar meratib bulunur. Öyle de namazın derecatında da daha fazla meratib bulunabilir. Fakat bütün o meratibde, o hakikat-i nuraniyenin esası bulunur.
    their stages are even more numerous. But the essence of that luminous truth is present in all the degrees.
    </div>


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    O God! Grant blessings and peace to the one who said: “The five daily prayers are the pillar of religion,”(*<ref>*Tirmidhi, Iman, 8; Ibn Maja, Fitan, 12; Musnad, v, 231, 237; al-Mustadrak, ii, 76.</ref>) and to all his Family and Companions.
    اَللّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّم۟ عَلٰى مَن۟ قَالَ «اَلصَّلَاةُ عِمَادُ الدّٖينِ» وَعَلٰى اٰلِهٖ وَصَح۟بِهٖ اَج۟مَعٖينَ
    </div>




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    <span id="YİRMİ_BİRİNCİ_SÖZ’ÜN_İKİNCİ_MAKAMI"></span>
    == YİRMİ BİRİNCİ SÖZ’ÜN İKİNCİ MAKAMI ==
    ==The Second Station of the Twenty-First Word==
    </div>


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    [This comprises five cures for five of the heart’s wounds.]
    '''Kalbin beş yarasına beş merhemi tazammun eder.'''
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    In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
    بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
    </div>


    <div lang="tr" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
    And say: “O my Sustainer! I seek refuge with You from the suggestions of the evil ones * And I seek refuge with you, O my Sustainer, lest they should come near me.”(*<ref>*Qur’an, 23:97-8.</ref>)
    رَبِّ اَعُوذُ بِكَ مِن۟ هَمَزَاتِ الشَّيَاطٖينِ ۝ وَاَعُوذُ بِكَ رَبِّ اَن۟ يَح۟ضُرُونِ
    </div>


    <div lang="tr" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
    O one afflicted with the sickness of scruples! Do you know what your scruples resemble? A calamity! The more importance they are given, the more they grow. If you give them no importance, they die away. If you see them as big, they grow bigger. If you see them as small, they grow smaller. If you  fear them, they swell and make you ill. If you do not fear them, they are light and remain hidden. If you do not know their true nature, they persist and become established. While if you do know them and recognize them, they disappear. And so, I shall explain only five ‘Aspects’ which, of the many sorts of these calamitous scruples, are those which most frequently occur. Perhaps it may be curative for you and for me, for these scruples are such that ignorance invites them and knowledge repulses them. If you do not recognize them they come, if you do recognize them they go.
    Ey maraz-ı vesvese ile müptela! Biliyor musun vesvesen neye benzer? Musibete benzer. Ehemmiyet verdikçe şişer, ehemmiyet vermezsen söner. Ona büyük nazarıyla baksan büyür. Küçük görsen küçülür. Korksan ağırlaşır, hasta eder. Havf etmezsen hafif olur, mahfî kalır. Mahiyetini bilmezsen devam eder, yerleşir. Mahiyetini bilsen, onu tanısan gider. Öyle ise şu musibetli vesvesenin aksam-ı kesîresinden kesîrü’l-vuku olan yalnız beş vechini beyan edeceğim. Belki sana ve bana şifa olur. Zira '''şu vesvese öyle bir şeydir ki cehil onu davet eder, ilim onu tard eder. Tanımazsan gelir, tanısan gider.'''
    </div>


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    <span id="BİRİNCİ_VECİH"></span>
    === BİRİNCİ VECİH ===
    ===FIRST ASPECT - FIRST WOUND===
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    <div lang="tr" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
    Satan first casts a doubt into the heart. If the heart does not accept it, it turns from a doubt  into  abuse. It  depicts  before  the  imagination  some  unclean  memories  and unmannerly, ugly states which resemble abuse, and causes the heart to declare: “Alas!”, and fall into despair. The person suffering  from scruples supposes that he has acted wrongfully before his Sustainer and feels a terrible agitation and anxiety. In order to be saved from it, he flees from the Divine presence and wants to plunge into heedlessness.
    Birinci yara, şeytan evvela şüpheyi kalbe atar. Eğer kalp kabul etmezse şüpheden şetme döner. Hayale karşı şetme benzer bazı pis hatıraları ve münafî-i edep çirkin halleri tasvir eder. Kalbe “Eyvah!” dedirtir, yeise düşürtür. Vesveseli adam zanneder ki kalbi, Rabb’ine karşı sû-i edepte bulunuyor. Müthiş bir halecan ve heyecan hisseder. Bundan kurtulmak için huzurdan kaçar, gaflete dalmak ister.
    </div>


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    The cure for this wound is this:
    '''Bu yaranın merhemi budur:'''
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    O wretched man suffering from scruples! Do not be alarmed! For what comes to your mind is not  abuse, but something imaginary. And like to imagine unbelief is not unbelief, to imagine abuse is not abuse either. For according to logic, an imagining is not a judgement, and abuse is a judgement. Moreover, those ugly words are not the words of your heart, because your heart is saddened and sorry at them. Rather they come from the inner faculty situated near the heart which is a means of Satanic whisperings. The harm of scruples is imagining the harm. That is, it is to suffer harm in the heart through imagining them to be harmful. For it is imagining to be reality an imagining which is devoid of judgement. Also, it is to attribute to the heart Satan’s works; to suppose his words to be from it. Such a person thinks it is harmful, so it becomes harmful. That is anyway what Satan wanted.
    Bak ey bîçare vesveseli adam! Telaş etme. Çünkü senin hatırına gelen şetim değil belki tahayyüldür. Tahayyül-ü küfür, küfür olmadığı gibi tahayyül-ü şetim dahi şetim değildir. Zira mantıkça tahayyül, hüküm değildir. Şetim ise hükümdür. Hem bununla beraber o çirkin sözler, senin kalbinin sözleri değil. Çünkü senin kalbin ondan müteessir ve müteessiftir. Belki kalbe yakın olan lümme-i şeytanîden geliyor. Vesvesenin zararı, tevehhüm-ü zarardır. Yani onu zararlı tevehhüm etmekle kalben mutazarrır olmaktır. Çünkü hükümsüz bir tahayyülü hakikat tevehhüm eder. Hem şeytanın işini kendi kalbine mal eder. Onun sözünü, ondan zanneder. Zarar anlar, zarara düşer. Zaten şeytanın da istediği odur.
    </div>


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    <span id="İKİNCİ_VECİH"></span>
    === İKİNCİ VECİH ===
    ===SECOND ASPECT===
    </div>


    <div lang="tr" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
    It is this: when meanings arise in the heart, they enter the imagination stripped of form; it is there  that they are clothed in an image or form. The imagination, always affected by some cause, weaves images of a sort. It leaves on the way the images of the things to which it gives importance. Whatever meaning passes through it, it either clothes it, or wears it, or taints it, or veils it. If the meanings are pure and clean, and the images, dirty and base, there is no clothing, but there is contact. The man with scruples confuses the contact with being clothed. He exclaims: “Alas! How corrupted my heart has become. This lowness has made me despicable!Satan takes advantage of this vein of his.
    Budur ki: Manalar kalpten çıktıkları vakit, suretlerden çıplak olarak hayale girerler, oradan suretleri giyerler. Hayal ise her vakit bir sebep tahtında bir nevi suretleri nesceder. Ehemmiyet verdiği şeyin suretlerini yol üstünde bırakır. Hangi mana geçse ya ona giydirir ya takar ya bulaştırır ya perde eder. Eğer manalar münezzeh ve temiz iseler, suretler mülevves ve rezil ise giymek yoktur fakat temas var. Vesveseli adam, teması telebbüsle iltibas eder. “Eyvah!” der. “Kalbim ne kadar bozulmuş. Bu sefillik, bu hısset-i nefis, beni matrud eder.” Şeytan onun şu damarından çok istifade eder.
    </div>


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    The cure for such a wound is as follows:
    '''Şu yaranın merhemi şudur:'''
    </div>


    <div lang="tr" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
    Listen, O you unfortunate! Just as outward cleanliness, which is the means to the correct conduct of your prayers, is not affected by the uncleanness of the inside of your inner organs, and is not spoiled  by it, so the sacred meanings being close to unclean forms does not harm them. For example, you are reflecting on some Divine signs when suddenly you feel ill, or an appetite, or a stimulation like a need to pass water. Of course your imagination will see whatever is necessary to cure the ill or answer the need, and will look at it, weave lowly forms appropriate to them, and the meanings that arise will pass  between  them. But there is no harm in their passing, nor soiling, nor error, nor injury. If there is any mistake, it is in paying them attention and imagining the harm.
    Dinle ey bîçare! Nasıl ki senin namazın edeb-i nezihanesinin vesilesi olan zâhirî taharete, batnının bâtınındaki necaset ona tesir etmez ve bozmaz. Öyle de maânî-i mukaddesenin suret-i mülevveseye mücavereti zarar etmez. Mesela, sen âyât-ı İlahiyeyi tefekkür ediyorsun. Birden bir maraz, ya bir iştiha ya bevl gibi bir emr-i müheyyic şiddetle senin hissine dokunuyor. Elbette senin hayalin, deva-i illet ve kaza-i hâcetin levazımatını görecek, bakacak, onlara münasip süflî suretleri nescedecek. Ve gelen manalar ortalarından geçecekler. Geçeceklere ne beis vardır, ne televvüs var ve ne zarar var ve ne hatar var. Yalnız hatar ise hasr-ı nazardır, zann-ı zarardır.
    </div>


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    <span id="ÜÇÜNCÜ_VECİH"></span>
    === ÜÇÜNCÜ VECİH ===
    ===THIRD ASPECT===
    </div>


    <div lang="tr" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
    It is this: there are certain hidden connections between things. There are even the threads of connections between things you least expected. They are either there in fact, or your imagination made them according to the art with which it was preoccupied, and tied them together. It is due to this mystery of connections that sometimes seeing a sacred thing  calls  to  mind  a  dirty  thing.
    Budur ki: Eşya mabeynlerinde, bazı münasebat-ı hafiye bulunur. Hattâ hiç ümit etmediğin şeyler içinde münasebet ipleri bulunur. Ya bizzat bulunur veya senin hayalin, meşgul olduğu sanata göre o ipleri yapmış, onları birbiriyle bağlamış. Şu sırr-ı münasebettendir ki bazen bir mukaddes şeyi görmek, bir mülevves şeyi hatıra getirir.
    </div>


    <div lang="tr" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
    As  stated  in  the  science  of  rhetoric,  “Although opposition is the cause of distance in the outer world, it is the cause of proximity in the imagination.” That is, an imaginary connection is the means of bringing together the images of two opposites. The recollection which arises from this connection is called the association of ideas. For example, while performing the prayers or reciting supplications before the Ka’ba in the Divine Presence, this association of ideas takes hold of you and drives you to the furthest, lowest trivia, although you are reflecting on Qur’anic verses.
    Fenn-i beyanda beyan olunduğu gibi “Hariçte uzaklık sebebi olan zıddiyet ise hayalde sebeb-i kurbiyettir.” Yani iki zıddın suretlerinin cem’ine vasıta, bir münasebet-i hayaliyedir. Bu münasebetle gelen tahattura, tedai-yi efkâr tabir edilir. Mesela, sen namazda, münâcatta, Kâbe karşısında, huzur-u İlahîde iken âyâtı tefekkürde olduğun bir halde; şu tedai-yi efkâr, seni tutup en uzak malayaniyat-ı rezileye sevk eder.
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    <div lang="tr" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
    If your head is afflicted with  association of ideas in this way, beware, do not be alarmed. Rather, the moment you come to your senses, turn back. Do not say: “I’ve done a great wrong,and keep  playing  with  the  trigger,  lest  through  your  attention, that  tenuous  connection strengthens. For the more you feel regret, the more importance you give it and that faint memory of  yours  becomes  ingrained. It  becomes an imaginary sickness. Do  not be frightened, it is not a sickness of the heart. This sort of recollection is mostly involuntary. Especially in sensitive, nervous people it is more common. Satan works the mine of this
    Senin başın, böyle bir tedai-yi efkâra müptela ise sakın telaş etme. Belki intibaha geldiğin anda, dön. “Aman ne kusur ettim!deyip tetkikle meşgul olup durma. Tâ o zayıf münasebet, senin dikkatinle kuvvet peyda etmesin. Zira teessür gösterdikçe, ehemmiyet verdikçe, senin o zayıf tahatturun melekeye döner. Bir maraz-ı hayalî olur. Korkma, maraz-ı kalbî değil. Şu nevi tahattur ise galiben ihtiyarsızdır. Hususan hassas asabîlerde daha galiptir. Şeytan, şu nevi vesvesenin madenini çok işlettirir.
    sort of scruple a great deal.
    </div>


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    The cure for this wound is as follows:
    '''Şu yaranın merhemi şudur ki:'''
    </div>


    <div lang="tr" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
    The association of ideas is mostly involuntary. One is not answerable for it. In association there is proximity; there is no touching or intermingling. Therefore the nature of the ideas do not pass to one another and do not harm one another. Just as Satan and the angel of inspiration being in proximity to one another around the heart, and sinners and the pious being close to one another in the same house cause no harm, so too, if at the prompting of the association of ideas, dirty imaginings  come and enter among clean thoughts, they cause  no  harm. Unless  it  is  intentional, or by imagining  them to  be harmful, one is over-occupied with them. And sometimes the heart becomes tired, and the mind occupies itself with anything it encounters in order to entertain itself. Then Satan finds an opportunity, and scatters dirty things before it, and eggs it on.
    Tedai-yi efkâr, galiben ihtiyarsızdır. Onda mes’uliyet yoktur. Hem tedaide, mücaveret var; temas ve ihtilat yoktur. Onun için efkârın keyfiyetleri, birbirine sirayet etmez, birbirine zarar vermez. Nasıl ki şeytan ile melek-i ilham, kalp taraflarında mücaveretleri var ve füccar ve ebrarın karabetleri ve bir meskende durmaları, zarar vermez. Öyle de tedai-yi efkâr sâikasıyla istemediğin pis hayalat, gelip nezih efkârın içine girse zarar vermez. Meğer kasden olsa veya zarar zannıyla onunla ziyade meşgul olsa. Hem bazen kalp yoruluyor. Fikir, kendini eğlendirmek için rastgele bir şeyle meşgul olur. Şeytan fırsat bulur, pis şeyleri önüne serpiyor, sürüyor.
    </div>


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    <span id="DÖRDÜNCÜ_VECİH"></span>
    === DÖRDÜNCÜ VECİH ===
    ===FOURTH ASPECT===
    </div>


    <div lang="tr" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
    This is a scruple arising from searching for the best form of an action. Supposing it to be fear of God, the more rigorous it becomes, the more severe the condition becomes for the person. It even  reaches the point that while searching for even better forms of action, he deviates into what is unlawful. Sometimes searching for a Sunna makes him give up what is obligatory. He says: “I wonder if my act was sound?”, and repeats it. This state continues, and he falls into terrible despair. Satan takes advantage of this state of his, and wounds him.
    Amelin en iyi suretini taharriden neş’et eden bir vesvesedir ki takva zannıyla teşeddüd ettikçe hal ona şiddetlenir. Hattâ bir dereceye varır ki o adam amelin daha evlâsını ararken harama düşer. Bazen bir sünnetin araması, bir vâcibi terk ettiriyor. “Acaba amelim sahih oldu mu?” der, iade eder. Bu hal devam eder. Gayet yeise düşer. Şeytan şu halinden istifade eder, onu yaralar.
    </div>


    <div lang="tr" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
    There are two cures for such a wound.
    '''Şu yaranın iki merhemi var:'''
    </div>


    <div lang="tr" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
    The First Cure: Scruples like this are worthy of the Mu’tazilites, because they say: “Actions and things for which a person is responsible are either, of themselves and in regard to the hereafter, good, and because of this good they were commanded, or they are bad, and because they are bad they were prohibited. That means, from the point of view of reality and the hereafter, the good and bad in things is dependent on the things themselves, and the Divine command and prohibition follows this.” According to this school of thought, the following scruple arises in every action which a person performs: “I wonder if my action was performed in the good way that in essence it  is?”
    '''Birinci merhem:''' Bu gibi vesvese Ehl-i İtizal’e lâyıktır. Çünkü onlar derler: “Medar-ı teklif olan ef’al ve eşya, kendi zatında, âhiret itibarıyla ya hüsnü var; sonra o hüsne binaen emredilmiş veya kubhu var; sonra ona binaen nehyedilmiş. Demek eşyada, âhiret ve hakikat nokta-i nazarında olan hüsün ve kubuh zatîdir; emir ve nehy-i İlahî ona tabidir.” Bu mezhebe göre insan, her işlediği amelde şöyle bir vesvese gelir: “Acaba amelim nefsü’l-emirdeki güzel surette yapılmış mıdır?”
    </div>


    <div lang="tr" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
    While the true school, the Sunni School, says: “Almighty God orders a thing, then it becomes good. He prohibits a thing, then it becomes bad.” That is, goodness becomes existent through command, and badness through prohibition. They look to the awareness of the one who performs the action, and are established according to that. And this good and bad is not in the apparent face which looks to this world, but in the face that looks to the hereafter.
    Amma mezheb-i hak olan Ehl-i Sünnet ve Cemaat derler ki: Cenab-ı Hak bir şeye emreder, sonra hasen olur. Nehyeder, sonra kabih olur. Demek emir ile güzellik, nehiy ile çirkinlik tahakkuk eder. Hüsün ve kubuh mükellefin ıttılaına bakar ve ona göre takarrur eder. Şu hüsün ve kubuh ise surî ve dünyaya bakan yüzünde değil belki âhirete bakan yüzdedir.
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    For example, you performed the prayers or took the ablutions and there was a cause that of itself would spoil them, but you were completely unaware of it. Your prayers and ablutions, therefore, are both sound and acceptable. However, the Mu’tazilites say: “In reality it was bad and  unsound. But it may be accepted from you because you were ignorant and did not know, so you have  an excuse.” Therefore, according to the Sunni School, do not say about an action which is conformable with the externals of the Shari’a: “I wonder if it was sound?”; do not have scruples about it. Say: “Was it accepted?”; do not become proud and conceited!
    Mesela, sen namaz kıldın veya abdest aldın. Halbuki namazını ve abdestini fesada verecek bir sebep, nefsü’l-emirde varmış. Lâkin sen ona hiç muttali olmadın. Senin namazın ve abdestin hem sahihtir hem hasendir. Mutezile der: “Hakikatte kabih ve fâsiddir. Lâkin senden kabul edilir. Çünkü cehlin var, bilmedin ve özrün var.” Öyle ise Ehl-i Sünnet mezhebine göre, zâhir-i şeriata muvafık olarak işlediğin ameline: “Acaba sahih olmuş mu?” deyip vesvese etme. Fakat “Kabul olmuş mu?” de; gururlanma, ucbe girme.
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    The Second Cure:This is:  “There is no difficulty in religion.”8  Since the four schools  of  law  are  true;  and  since  realizing  a  fault  which  leads  to  the  seeking  of forgiveness is  preferable –for the person afflicted with scruples– to seeing actions as good, which leads to pride, that is, it is better if such a person sees his action as faulty and seeks forgiveness, rather than considering it to be good and falling into pride;
    '''İkinci merhem:''' Dinde harec yoktur. لَا حَرَجَ فِى الدّٖينِ Madem dört mezhep haktır. Madem istiğfara müncer olan derk-i kusur ise gurura müncer olan hüsn-ü amelin rü’yetine –böyle vesveseli adama– müreccahtır. '''Yani böyle vesveseli adam, amelini güzel görüp gurura düşmektense amelini kusurlu görse, istiğfar etse daha evlâdır.'''
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    since it is thus, throw away your scruples and say to Satan: “This state is a difficulty. It is difficult to be aware of the reality of things. It is contrary to the ease in religion expressed  by: There is no difficulty in religion. It is contrary to the principle, Religion is facility. Certainly such an action is conformable with a true school of law. That is enough for me. And at least by admitting my inability to perform the worship in a way worthy of it, it is a means of taking refuge with Divine compassion through humbly beseeching forgiveness, and to meekly supplicating that my faulty actions be accepted.
    Madem böyledir, sen vesveseyi at. Şeytana de ki: Şu hal, bir harecdir. Hakikat-i hale muttali olmak güçtür. Dindeki yüsre münafîdir. لَا حَرَجَ فِى الدّٖينِ ۝ اَلدّٖينُ يُس۟رٌ esasına muhaliftir. Elbette böyle amelim bir mezheb-i hakka muvafık gelir. O bana kâfidir. Hem lâekall ben aczimi itiraf ederek ibadeti lâyık-ı vechile eda edemediğimden istiğfar ve tazarru ile merhamet-i İlahiyeye dehalet edip kusurum affolunmak, kusurlu amelim kabul olunmak için mütezellilane bir niyaza vesiledir.
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    <span id="BEŞİNCİ_VECİH"></span>
    === BEŞİNCİ VECİH ===
    ===FIFTH ASPECT===
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    In matters of belief, what occurs to one in the form of doubts are scruples. The unhappy man suffering from scruples sometimes confuses conceptions in his mind with imaginings. That is, he  imagines a doubt that has occurred to his imagination to be a doubt that has entered his mind, and supposes that his beliefs have been damaged. Sometimes he supposes a doubt he has imagined to have harmed  his  belief. Sometimes  he  supposes  a  doubt  he  has  imagined  to  have  been confirmed by his reason. Sometimes he supposes pondering over a matter related to unbelief to be unbelief.
    Mesail-i imaniyede şüphe suretinde gelen vesvesedir. Bîçare vesveseli adam, bazen tahayyülü, taakkul ile iltibas eder. Yani hayale gelen bir şüpheyi, akla girmiş bir şüphe tevehhüm edip itikadına halel gelmiş zanneder. Hem bazen tevehhüm ettiği bir şüpheyi, imana zarar veren bir şek zanneder. Hem bazen tasavvur ettiği bir şüpheyi, tasdik-i aklîye girmiş bir şüphe zanneder. Hem bazen bir emr-i küfrîde tefekkürü, küfür zanneder. Yani dalaletin esbabını anlamak suretinde kuvve-i müfekkirenin cevelanını ve tetkikatını ve bîtarafane muhakemesini, hilaf-ı iman zanneder.
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    That is, he supposes to be contrary to belief his exercising his ability to reflect in the form of understanding the causes of misguidance, and his ability to study and reason in impartial fashion. Then, taking fright at these  suppositions, which result from the whisperings of Satan, he exclaims: “Alas! My heart is corrupted and my beliefs spoiled.” Since those states are mostly involuntary, and he cannot put them to rights through  his faculty of will, he falls into despair.
    İşte telkinat-ı şeytaniyenin eseri olan şu zanlardan ürkerek “Eyvah! Kalbim bozulmuş, itikadıma halel gelmiş.” der. O haller, galiben ihtiyarsız olduğundan cüz-i ihtiyarîsiyle ıslah edemediğinden yeise düşer.
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    The cure for this wound is as follows:
    '''Bu yaranın merhemi şudur ki:'''
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    Just as imagining unbelief is not unbelief, neither is fancying unbelief, unbelief. And just as imagining misguidance is not misguidance, so too reflecting on misguidance is not misguidance. For  both  imagining,  and  fancying,  and  supposing,  and  reflecting,  are different from confirmation with the reason and submission of the heart, they are other than them; they are free to an extent; they do not listen to the faculty of will; they are not included among the obligations of religion. But affirmation and submission are not like that; they are dependent on a balance. And just as imagining, fancying, supposing, and reflecting are not  affirmation or submission, so they cannot  be said to be doubt or hesitation. But if they are repeated unnecessarily and become established, then a sort of real doubt may be born of them. Also, continually taking the part of the opposing side calling it unbiased reasoning or being fair reaches the point that the person involuntarily favours the opposing side. His taking the part of the truth, which is incumbent on him, is destroyed. He too falls into danger. A state of mind becomes fixed in his head whereby he becomes an officious representative of Satan or the enemy.
    Tahayyül-ü küfür, küfür olmadığı gibi tevehhüm-ü küfür dahi küfür değildir. Tasavvur-u dalalet, dalalet olmadığı gibi tefekkür-ü dalalet dahi dalalet değildir. Çünkü hem tahayyül hem tevehhüm hem tasavvur hem tefekkür; tasdik-i aklîden ve iz’an-ı kalbîden ayrıdırlar, başkadırlar. Onlar bir derece serbesttirler. Cüz-i ihtiyariyeyi pek dinlemiyorlar. Teklif-i dinî altına çok giremiyorlar. Tasdik ve iz’an, öyle değiller. Bir mizana tabidirler. Hem tahayyül, tevehhüm, tasavvur, tefekkür nasıl ki tasdik ve iz’an değiller. Öyle de şüphe ve tereddüt sayılmazlar. Fakat eğer lüzumsuz tekrar ede ede müstekar bir hale gelse o vakit hakiki bir nevi şüphe, ondan tevellüd edebilir. Hem bîtarafane muhakeme namıyla veya insaf namına deyip şıkk-ı muhalifi iltizam ede ede, tâ öyle bir hale gelir ki ihtiyarsız taraf-ı muhalifi iltizam eder. Ona vâcib olan hakkın iltizamı kırılır. O da tehlikeye düşer. Hasmın veya şeytanın bir vekil-i fuzulîsi olacak bir halet, zihninde takarrur eder.
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    The  most  important of this sort of scruple  is this: the person suffering  from it confuses something that is actually possible with something which is reasonably possible. That is, if he sees something which is of itself possible, he imagines it to be reasonably possible and reasonably doubtful. Whereas one of the principles of theology (kalam) is that something which is of itself possible is not opposed to certain knowledge and does not contradict the demands of reason. For example, the Black Sea sinking into the earth at this moment is of itself possible, but we judge with certainty that the sea is in its place, and we know this without doubting it, and that possibility which is actually possible causes us no  doubt and does not damage our certainty. And, for example, of itself it is possible  that  the  sun will  not  set  today or that  it  will not  rise  tomorrow. But  this possibility in no way damages our certainty that it will rise and gives rise to no doubt.
    Şu nevi vesvesenin en mühimmi budur ki: Vesveseli adam, imkân-ı zatî ile imkân-ı zihnîyi birbiriyle iltibas eder. Yani bir şeyi zatında mümkün görse o şeyi zihnen dahi mümkün ve aklen meşkuk tevehhüm eder. Halbuki ilm-i kelâmın kaidelerindendir ki imkân-ı zatî ise yakîn-i ilmîye münafî değil ve zaruret-i zihniyeye zıddiyeti yoktur. Mesela, şu dakikada Karadeniz’in yere batması, zatında mümkündür ve o imkân-ı zatî ile muhtemeldir. Halbuki yakînen, o denizin yerinde olduğunu hükmediyoruz, şüphesiz biliyoruz. Ve o ihtimal-i imkânî ve o imkân-ı zatî, bize şek vermez, bir şüphe getirmez, yakînimizi bozmaz. Mesela, şu güneş zatında mümkündür ki bugün gurûb etmesin veya yarın tulû etmesin. Halbuki bu imkân yakînimize zarar vermez, şüphe getirmez.
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    Similarly, unfounded suspicions arising from possibilities of this sort about, for example, the setting of the life of this world and rising of the life of the hereafter, which are among the truths of belief, cause no  harm to the certainty of belief. Furthermore, the well-known rule, A possibility that does not arise from any proof or evidence is of no importance is one of the established principles of  both the sciences  of  the  principles of religion and  the principles of jurisprudence (fiqh).
    İşte bunun gibi mesela, hakaik-i imaniyeden olan hayat-ı dünyeviyenin gurûbuna ve hayat-ı uhreviyenin tulûuna, imkân-ı zatî cihetinde gelen vehimler, yakîn-i imanîye zarar vermez. Hem لَا عِب۟رَةَ لِل۟اِح۟تِمَالِ ال۟غَي۟رِ النَّاشِئِ عَن۟ دَلٖيلٍ yani “Bir delilden neş’et etmeyen bir ihtimalin hiç ehemmiyeti yoktur.” olan kaide-i meşhure hem usûlü’d-din hem usûlü’l-fıkhın kaide-i mukarreresindendir.
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    '''If you say:''' “What is the wisdom and purpose in scruples being visited on us, which are thus harmful and an affliction for believers?
    '''Eğer desen:''' Bu derece mü’minlere muzır ve müz’iç olan vesvese, ne hikmete binaen bize bela olmuş?
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    '''The Answer:'''On condition they do not lead to excess or overwhelm a person, essentially scruples are the cause of vigilance, lead to seeking the best way, and give rise to seriousness. They banish indifference and repulse carelessness. Therefore, in this realm of examination and arena of competition, the Absolutely Wise One put them in the hand of Satan as a whip of encouragement  for  us. He strikes it  at  our heads. If it  hurts excessively, one must complain to the All-Wise and Compassionate One, and say: “I seek refuge with God from Satan the Accursed.
    '''Elcevap:''' İfrata varmamak hem galebe çalmamak şartıyla asl-ı vesvese; teyakkuza sebeptir, taharriye dâîdir, ciddiyete vesiledir. Lâkaytlığı atar, tehavünü def’eder. Onun için Hakîm-i Mutlak, şu dâr-ı imtihanda, şu meydan-ı müsabakada bize bir kamçı-yı teşvik olarak vesveseyi şeytanın eline vermiş. Beşerin başına vuruyor. Şayet ziyade incitse Hakîm-i Rahîm’e şekva etmeli اَعُوذُ بِاللّٰهِ مِنَ الشَّي۟طَانِ الرَّجٖيمِ demeli.
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    <center> [[Yirminci Söz]] ⇐ | [[Sözler]] | ⇒ [[Yirmi İkinci Söz]] </center>
    <center> [[Yirminci Söz/en|The Twentieth Word]] ⇐ | [[Sözler/en|The Words]] | ⇒ [[Yirmi İkinci Söz/en|The Twenty-Second Word]] </center>
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    13.38, 6 Ağustos 2024 itibarı ile sayfanın şu anki hâli

    [This Word consists of Two Stations.]

    First Station

    In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

    For such Prayers are enjoined on believers at stated times.(*[1])

    One time, a man great in age, physique, and rank said to me: “The prayers are fine, but to perform them every single day five times is excessive. Since they never end, it becomes wearying.”

    A long time after the man said these words, I listened to my soul and I heard it say exactly the same things. I looked at it and saw that with the ear of laziness, it was receiving the same lesson from Satan. Then I understood that those words were as though said in the name of all evil-commanding souls, or else they had been prompted. So I said: “Since my soul commands to evil, one who does not reform his own soul cannot reform others. In which case, I shall begin with my own soul.”

    I said: O soul! Listen to five ‘Warnings’ in response to those words which you uttered in compounded ignorance, on the couch of idleness, in the slumber of heedlessness.

    FIRST WARNING

    O my wretched soul! Is your life eternal, I wonder? Have you any incontrovertible document showing that you will live to next year, or even to tomorrow? What causes you boredom is that you fancy you shall live for ever. You complain as though you will remain in this world to enjoy yourself for ever. If you had understood that your life is brief and that it is departing fruitlessly, it surely would not cause you boredom, but excite a real eagerness and agreeable pleasure to spend one hour out of the twenty-four on a fine, agreeable, easy, and merciful act of service which is a means of gaining the true happiness of eternal life.

    SECOND WARNING

    O my stomach-worshipping soul! Every day you eat bread, drink water, and breathe air; do they cause you boredom? They do not, because since the need is repeated, it is not boredom that they cause, but pleasure. In which case, the five daily prayers should not cause you boredom, for they attract the needs of your companions in the house of my body, the sustenance of my heart, the water of life of my spirit, and the air of my subtle faculties.

    Yes, it is by knocking through supplication on the door of One All- Compassionate and Munificent that sustenance and strength may be obtained for a heart afflicted with infinite griefs and sorrows and captivated by infinite pleasures and hopes.

    And it is by turning towards the spring of mercy of an Eternal Beloved through the five daily prayers that the water of life may be imbibed by a spirit connected with most beings, which swiftly depart from this transitory world crying out at separation.

    And being most needy for air in the sorrowful, crushing, distressing, transient, dark, and suffocating conditions of this world, it is only through the window of the prayers that a conscious inner sense and luminous subtle faculty can breathe, which by its nature desires eternal life and was created for eternity and is a mirror of the Pre-Eternal and Post- Eternal One and is infinitely delicate and subtle.

    THIRD WARNING

    O my impatient soul! Is it at all sensible to think today of past hardships of worship, difficulties of the prayers, and troubles of misfortune, and be distressed, and to imagine the future duties of worship, service of the prayers, and sorrows of disaster, and display impatience?

    In being thus impatient you resemble a foolish commander, who, although the enemy’s right flank joined his right flank and became fresh forces for him, sent a significant force to the right flank, and weakened the centre. Then, while there were no enemy soldiers on the left flank, he sent a large force there, and gave them the order to fire. No forces then remained in the centre, and the enemy understood this and attacked it and routed him.

    Yes, you resemble this, for the troubles of yesterday have today been transformed into mercy; the pain has gone while the pleasure remains. The difficulty has been turned into blessings, and the hardship into reward. In which case, you should not feel wearied at it, but make a serious effort to continue with a new eagerness and fresh enthusiasm. As for future days, they have not yet arrived, and to think of them now and feel bored and wearied is a lunacy like thinking today of future hunger and thirst, and starting to shout and cry out.

    Since the truth is this, if you are reasonable, you will think of only today in connection with worship, and say: “I am spending one hour of it on an agreeable, pleasant, and elevated act of service, the reward for which is high and whose trouble is little.” Then your bitter dispiritedness will be transformed into sweet endeavour.

    My impatient soul! You are charged with being patient in three respects.

    One is patience in worship.

    Another is patience in refraining from sin.

    And a third is patience in the face of disaster.(*[2])

    If you are intelligent, take as your guide the truth apparent in the comparison in this Third Warning. Say in manly fashion: “O Most Patient One!”, and shoulder the three sorts of patience. If you do not squander on the wrong way the forces of patience Almighty God has given you, they should be enough to withstand every difficulty and disaster. So hold out with those forces!

    FOURTH WARNING

    O my foolish soul! Is this duty of worship without result, and is its recompense little that it causes you weariness? Whereas if someone was to give you a little money, or to intimidate you, he could make you work till evening, and you would work without slacking.

    So is it that the prescribed prayers are without result, which in this guest-house of the world are sustenance and wealth for your impotent and weak heart, and in your grave, which will be a certain dwelling-place for you, sustenance and light, and at the Resurrection, when you will anyway be judged, a document and patent, and on the Bridge of Sirat, over which you are bound to pass, a light and a mount? Are their recompense little? Someone promises you a present worth a hundred liras, and makes you work for a hundred days. You trust the man who may go back on his word and work without slacking.

    So if One for Whom the breaking of a promise is impossible, promises you recompense like Paradise and a gift like eternal happiness, and employs you for a very short time in a very agreeable duty, if you do not perform that service, or you act accusingly towards His promise or slight His gift by performing it unwillingly like someone forced to work, or by being bored, or by working in half-hearted fashion, you will deserve a severe reprimand and awesome punishment. Have you not thought of this? Although you serve without flagging in the heaviest work in this world out of fear of imprisonment, does the fear of an eternal incarceration like Hell not fill you with enthusiasm for a truly light and agreeable act of service?

    FIFTH WARNING

    O my world-worshipping soul! Does your slackness in worship and remissness in the prescribed prayers arise from the multiplicity of your worldly occupations, or because you cannot find time due to the struggle for livelihood? Were you created only for this world that you spend all your time on it?

    You know that in regard to your abilities you are superior to all the animals, but in regard to procuring the necessities of worldly life you cannot compete with even a sparrow. So why can you not understand that your basic duty is not to labour like an animal, but to strive for a true, perpetual life, like a true human being.

    In addition, the things you call worldly occupations mostly do not concern you, and are trivial matters which you meddle in officiously. You neglect the essential things and pass your time acquiring inessential information as though you were going to live for a thousand years. For example, you squander your precious time on worthless things like learning what the rings around Saturn are like or how many chickens there are in America. As though you were becoming an expert in astronomy or statistics.

    If you say: “What keeps me from the prayers and worship and causes me to be lax is not unnecessary things like that, but essential matters like earning a livelihood,”

    then my answer is this: if you work for a daily wage of one hundred kurush, and someone comes to you and says: “Come and dig here for ten minutes, and you will find a brilliant and an emerald worth a hundred liras.” If you reply: “No, I won’t come, because ten kurush will be cut from my wage and my subsistence will be less,” of course you understand what a foolish pretext it would be.

    In just the same way, you work in this orchard for your livelihood. If you abandon the obligatory prayers, all the fruits of your effort will be restricted to only a worldly, unimportant, and unproductive livelihood. But if you spend your rest periods on the prayers, which allow your spirit to relax and heart to take a breather, you will discover two mines which are an important source, both for a productive worldly livelihood, and your livelihood and provisions of the hereafter.

    First Mine: Through a sound intention, you will receive a share of the praises and glorifications offered by all the plants and trees, whether flowering or fruit-bearing, that you grow in the garden.(*[3])

    Second Mine: Whatever is eaten of the garden’s produce, whether by animals or man, cattle or flies, buyers or thieves, it will become like almsgiving from you.(*[4]) But on condition you work in the name of the True Provider and within the bounds of what He permits, and see yourself as a distribution official giving His property to His creatures.

    So see what a great loss is made by one who abandons the prescribed prayers. What significant wealth he loses, and he is deprived of those two results and mines which would otherwise cause him to work eagerly and ensure his morale is strong; he becomes bankrupt. Even, as he grows old, he will grow weary of gardening and lose interest in it, saying, “What is it to me? I am anyway leaving this world, why should I put up with this much difficulty?” He will sink into idleness. But the first man says: “I shall work harder at both worship and licit activities in order to send even more abundant light to my grave and procure more provisions for my life in the hereafter.”

    In Short: O my soul! Know that yesterday has left you, and as for tomorrow, you have nothing to prove that it will be yours. In which case, know that your true life is the present day. So throw at least one of its hours into a mosque or prayer-mat, a coffer for the hereafter like a reserve fund, set up for the true future.

    Know too that for you and for everyone each new day is the door to a new world. If you do not perform the prayers, your world that day will depart dark and wretched, and will testify against you in the World of Similitudes. For everyone, every day, has a private world out of this world, and its nature is dependent on the person’s heart and actions. Like a splendid palace reflected in a mirror takes on the colour of the mirror; if it is black, it appears black; if it is red, it appears red. Also it takes on the qualities of the mirror; if the mirror is smooth, it shows the palace to be beautiful, and if it is not, it shows it to be ugly. As it shows the most delicate things to be coarse, so you alter the shape of your own world with your heart, mind, actions, and wishes. You may make it testify either for you or against you.

    If you perform the five daily prayers, and through them you are turned towards that world’s Glorious Maker, all of a sudden your world, which looks to you, is lit up. Quite simply as though the prayers are an electric lamp and your intention to perform them touches the switch, they disperse the world’s darkness and show the changes and movements within the confused wretchedness of worldly chaos to be a wise and purposeful order and a meaningful writing of Divine power.

    They scatter one light of the light-filled verse, God is the Light of the Heavens and the Earth(*[5]) over your heart, and your world on that day is illuminated through the light’s reflection. It will cause it to testify in your favour through its luminosity.

    Beware, do not say: “What are my prayers in comparison with the reality of the prayers?”, because like the seed of a date-palm describes the full-grown tree, your prayers describe your tree. The difference is only in the summary and details; like the prayers of a great saint, the prayers of ordinary people like you or me, even if they are not aware of it, have a share of that light. There is a mystery in this truth, even if the conscious mind does not perceive it... but the unfolding and illumination differs according to the degrees of those performing them. However many stages and degrees there are from the seed of a date-palm to the mature tree, the degrees of the prayers and their stages are even more numerous. But the essence of that luminous truth is present in all the degrees.

    O God! Grant blessings and peace to the one who said: “The five daily prayers are the pillar of religion,”(*[6]) and to all his Family and Companions.


    The Second Station of the Twenty-First Word

    [This comprises five cures for five of the heart’s wounds.]

    In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

    And say: “O my Sustainer! I seek refuge with You from the suggestions of the evil ones * And I seek refuge with you, O my Sustainer, lest they should come near me.”(*[7])

    O one afflicted with the sickness of scruples! Do you know what your scruples resemble? A calamity! The more importance they are given, the more they grow. If you give them no importance, they die away. If you see them as big, they grow bigger. If you see them as small, they grow smaller. If you fear them, they swell and make you ill. If you do not fear them, they are light and remain hidden. If you do not know their true nature, they persist and become established. While if you do know them and recognize them, they disappear. And so, I shall explain only five ‘Aspects’ which, of the many sorts of these calamitous scruples, are those which most frequently occur. Perhaps it may be curative for you and for me, for these scruples are such that ignorance invites them and knowledge repulses them. If you do not recognize them they come, if you do recognize them they go.

    FIRST ASPECT - FIRST WOUND

    Satan first casts a doubt into the heart. If the heart does not accept it, it turns from a doubt into abuse. It depicts before the imagination some unclean memories and unmannerly, ugly states which resemble abuse, and causes the heart to declare: “Alas!”, and fall into despair. The person suffering from scruples supposes that he has acted wrongfully before his Sustainer and feels a terrible agitation and anxiety. In order to be saved from it, he flees from the Divine presence and wants to plunge into heedlessness.

    The cure for this wound is this:

    O wretched man suffering from scruples! Do not be alarmed! For what comes to your mind is not abuse, but something imaginary. And like to imagine unbelief is not unbelief, to imagine abuse is not abuse either. For according to logic, an imagining is not a judgement, and abuse is a judgement. Moreover, those ugly words are not the words of your heart, because your heart is saddened and sorry at them. Rather they come from the inner faculty situated near the heart which is a means of Satanic whisperings. The harm of scruples is imagining the harm. That is, it is to suffer harm in the heart through imagining them to be harmful. For it is imagining to be reality an imagining which is devoid of judgement. Also, it is to attribute to the heart Satan’s works; to suppose his words to be from it. Such a person thinks it is harmful, so it becomes harmful. That is anyway what Satan wanted.

    SECOND ASPECT

    It is this: when meanings arise in the heart, they enter the imagination stripped of form; it is there that they are clothed in an image or form. The imagination, always affected by some cause, weaves images of a sort. It leaves on the way the images of the things to which it gives importance. Whatever meaning passes through it, it either clothes it, or wears it, or taints it, or veils it. If the meanings are pure and clean, and the images, dirty and base, there is no clothing, but there is contact. The man with scruples confuses the contact with being clothed. He exclaims: “Alas! How corrupted my heart has become. This lowness has made me despicable!” Satan takes advantage of this vein of his.

    The cure for such a wound is as follows:

    Listen, O you unfortunate! Just as outward cleanliness, which is the means to the correct conduct of your prayers, is not affected by the uncleanness of the inside of your inner organs, and is not spoiled by it, so the sacred meanings being close to unclean forms does not harm them. For example, you are reflecting on some Divine signs when suddenly you feel ill, or an appetite, or a stimulation like a need to pass water. Of course your imagination will see whatever is necessary to cure the ill or answer the need, and will look at it, weave lowly forms appropriate to them, and the meanings that arise will pass between them. But there is no harm in their passing, nor soiling, nor error, nor injury. If there is any mistake, it is in paying them attention and imagining the harm.

    THIRD ASPECT

    It is this: there are certain hidden connections between things. There are even the threads of connections between things you least expected. They are either there in fact, or your imagination made them according to the art with which it was preoccupied, and tied them together. It is due to this mystery of connections that sometimes seeing a sacred thing calls to mind a dirty thing.

    As stated in the science of rhetoric, “Although opposition is the cause of distance in the outer world, it is the cause of proximity in the imagination.” That is, an imaginary connection is the means of bringing together the images of two opposites. The recollection which arises from this connection is called the association of ideas. For example, while performing the prayers or reciting supplications before the Ka’ba in the Divine Presence, this association of ideas takes hold of you and drives you to the furthest, lowest trivia, although you are reflecting on Qur’anic verses.

    If your head is afflicted with association of ideas in this way, beware, do not be alarmed. Rather, the moment you come to your senses, turn back. Do not say: “I’ve done a great wrong,” and keep playing with the trigger, lest through your attention, that tenuous connection strengthens. For the more you feel regret, the more importance you give it and that faint memory of yours becomes ingrained. It becomes an imaginary sickness. Do not be frightened, it is not a sickness of the heart. This sort of recollection is mostly involuntary. Especially in sensitive, nervous people it is more common. Satan works the mine of this sort of scruple a great deal.

    The cure for this wound is as follows:

    The association of ideas is mostly involuntary. One is not answerable for it. In association there is proximity; there is no touching or intermingling. Therefore the nature of the ideas do not pass to one another and do not harm one another. Just as Satan and the angel of inspiration being in proximity to one another around the heart, and sinners and the pious being close to one another in the same house cause no harm, so too, if at the prompting of the association of ideas, dirty imaginings come and enter among clean thoughts, they cause no harm. Unless it is intentional, or by imagining them to be harmful, one is over-occupied with them. And sometimes the heart becomes tired, and the mind occupies itself with anything it encounters in order to entertain itself. Then Satan finds an opportunity, and scatters dirty things before it, and eggs it on.

    FOURTH ASPECT

    This is a scruple arising from searching for the best form of an action. Supposing it to be fear of God, the more rigorous it becomes, the more severe the condition becomes for the person. It even reaches the point that while searching for even better forms of action, he deviates into what is unlawful. Sometimes searching for a Sunna makes him give up what is obligatory. He says: “I wonder if my act was sound?”, and repeats it. This state continues, and he falls into terrible despair. Satan takes advantage of this state of his, and wounds him.

    There are two cures for such a wound.

    The First Cure: Scruples like this are worthy of the Mu’tazilites, because they say: “Actions and things for which a person is responsible are either, of themselves and in regard to the hereafter, good, and because of this good they were commanded, or they are bad, and because they are bad they were prohibited. That means, from the point of view of reality and the hereafter, the good and bad in things is dependent on the things themselves, and the Divine command and prohibition follows this.” According to this school of thought, the following scruple arises in every action which a person performs: “I wonder if my action was performed in the good way that in essence it is?”

    While the true school, the Sunni School, says: “Almighty God orders a thing, then it becomes good. He prohibits a thing, then it becomes bad.” That is, goodness becomes existent through command, and badness through prohibition. They look to the awareness of the one who performs the action, and are established according to that. And this good and bad is not in the apparent face which looks to this world, but in the face that looks to the hereafter.

    For example, you performed the prayers or took the ablutions and there was a cause that of itself would spoil them, but you were completely unaware of it. Your prayers and ablutions, therefore, are both sound and acceptable. However, the Mu’tazilites say: “In reality it was bad and unsound. But it may be accepted from you because you were ignorant and did not know, so you have an excuse.” Therefore, according to the Sunni School, do not say about an action which is conformable with the externals of the Shari’a: “I wonder if it was sound?”; do not have scruples about it. Say: “Was it accepted?”; do not become proud and conceited!

    The Second Cure:This is: “There is no difficulty in religion.”8 Since the four schools of law are true; and since realizing a fault which leads to the seeking of forgiveness is preferable –for the person afflicted with scruples– to seeing actions as good, which leads to pride, that is, it is better if such a person sees his action as faulty and seeks forgiveness, rather than considering it to be good and falling into pride;

    since it is thus, throw away your scruples and say to Satan: “This state is a difficulty. It is difficult to be aware of the reality of things. It is contrary to the ease in religion expressed by: There is no difficulty in religion. It is contrary to the principle, Religion is facility. Certainly such an action is conformable with a true school of law. That is enough for me. And at least by admitting my inability to perform the worship in a way worthy of it, it is a means of taking refuge with Divine compassion through humbly beseeching forgiveness, and to meekly supplicating that my faulty actions be accepted.

    FIFTH ASPECT

    In matters of belief, what occurs to one in the form of doubts are scruples. The unhappy man suffering from scruples sometimes confuses conceptions in his mind with imaginings. That is, he imagines a doubt that has occurred to his imagination to be a doubt that has entered his mind, and supposes that his beliefs have been damaged. Sometimes he supposes a doubt he has imagined to have harmed his belief. Sometimes he supposes a doubt he has imagined to have been confirmed by his reason. Sometimes he supposes pondering over a matter related to unbelief to be unbelief.

    That is, he supposes to be contrary to belief his exercising his ability to reflect in the form of understanding the causes of misguidance, and his ability to study and reason in impartial fashion. Then, taking fright at these suppositions, which result from the whisperings of Satan, he exclaims: “Alas! My heart is corrupted and my beliefs spoiled.” Since those states are mostly involuntary, and he cannot put them to rights through his faculty of will, he falls into despair.

    The cure for this wound is as follows:

    Just as imagining unbelief is not unbelief, neither is fancying unbelief, unbelief. And just as imagining misguidance is not misguidance, so too reflecting on misguidance is not misguidance. For both imagining, and fancying, and supposing, and reflecting, are different from confirmation with the reason and submission of the heart, they are other than them; they are free to an extent; they do not listen to the faculty of will; they are not included among the obligations of religion. But affirmation and submission are not like that; they are dependent on a balance. And just as imagining, fancying, supposing, and reflecting are not affirmation or submission, so they cannot be said to be doubt or hesitation. But if they are repeated unnecessarily and become established, then a sort of real doubt may be born of them. Also, continually taking the part of the opposing side calling it unbiased reasoning or being fair reaches the point that the person involuntarily favours the opposing side. His taking the part of the truth, which is incumbent on him, is destroyed. He too falls into danger. A state of mind becomes fixed in his head whereby he becomes an officious representative of Satan or the enemy.

    The most important of this sort of scruple is this: the person suffering from it confuses something that is actually possible with something which is reasonably possible. That is, if he sees something which is of itself possible, he imagines it to be reasonably possible and reasonably doubtful. Whereas one of the principles of theology (kalam) is that something which is of itself possible is not opposed to certain knowledge and does not contradict the demands of reason. For example, the Black Sea sinking into the earth at this moment is of itself possible, but we judge with certainty that the sea is in its place, and we know this without doubting it, and that possibility which is actually possible causes us no doubt and does not damage our certainty. And, for example, of itself it is possible that the sun will not set today or that it will not rise tomorrow. But this possibility in no way damages our certainty that it will rise and gives rise to no doubt.

    Similarly, unfounded suspicions arising from possibilities of this sort about, for example, the setting of the life of this world and rising of the life of the hereafter, which are among the truths of belief, cause no harm to the certainty of belief. Furthermore, the well-known rule, A possibility that does not arise from any proof or evidence is of no importance is one of the established principles of both the sciences of the principles of religion and the principles of jurisprudence (fiqh).

    If you say: “What is the wisdom and purpose in scruples being visited on us, which are thus harmful and an affliction for believers?”

    The Answer:On condition they do not lead to excess or overwhelm a person, essentially scruples are the cause of vigilance, lead to seeking the best way, and give rise to seriousness. They banish indifference and repulse carelessness. Therefore, in this realm of examination and arena of competition, the Absolutely Wise One put them in the hand of Satan as a whip of encouragement for us. He strikes it at our heads. If it hurts excessively, one must complain to the All-Wise and Compassionate One, and say: “I seek refuge with God from Satan the Accursed.”


    The Twentieth Word ⇐ | The Words | ⇒ The Twenty-Second Word

    1. *Qur’an, 4:103.
    2. *Suyuti, al-Durar al-Muntathira, 46; Suyuti, al-Fath al-Kabir, ii, 200.
    3. *This First Station was a lesson for someone in a garden, so it was explained in this way.
    4. *Bukhari, iii, 135; Muslim, ii, 1189; Ibn Hibban, v, 152; Musnad, iii, 184, 191.
    5. *Qur’an, 24:35.
    6. *Tirmidhi, Iman, 8; Ibn Maja, Fitan, 12; Musnad, v, 231, 237; al-Mustadrak, ii, 76.
    7. *Qur’an, 23:97-8.