Yirmi Altıncı Mektup/en

This twenty-sixth letter consists of four squarestopics.

First Topic

In His Name, be He Glorified!And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.(17:44)

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

And if a suggestion from Satan assails your mind, seek refuge with God; for He is All-Hearing and All-Knowing.(41:36)

A Proof of the Qur’an Against Satan and His Party

This first Topic defeats in argument the Devil, silences the rebellious, and strikes them dumb by refuting in the most clear manner a fearsomely cunning stratagem of the Devil, which is to be unbiased. It concerns an event part of which I described in summary form ten years ago in my work entitled Lemeât. It is as follows:

Eleven years before this treatise was written, I was listening in the month of Ramadan to the Qur’an being recited in Bayezid Mosque in Istanbul. Suddenly, although I could see no one, I seemed to hear an unearthly voice which captured all my attention. I listened with my imagination,

and realized that it was saying to me:

“You consider the Qur’an to be extremely elevated and brilliant. Be unbiased for a minute and consider it again. That is, suppose it to be man’s word. I wonder whether you would still see the same qualities and beauty in it?”

In truth, I was deceived by the voice; I thought of the Qur’an as being written by man. Just as Bayezid Mosque is plunged into darkness when the electricity is switched off, I observed that with that thought the brilliant lights of the Qur’an began to be extinguished. At that point I understood that it was the Devil who was speaking to me; he was drawing me towards the abyss. I sought help from the Qur’an and a light was at once imparted to my heart giving me firm strength for the defence. I began to argue back at the Devil,

saying:

“O Satan! Unbiased thinking is to take a position between two sides. Whereas what both you and your disciples from among men call unbiased thinking is to take the part of the opposing side; it is not impartiality, it is temporary unbelief. For to consider the Qur’an to be man’s word and to judge it as such is to take the part of the opposing side; it is to favour something baseless and invalid. It is not being unbiased, it is being biased towards falsehood.”

The Devil replied:

“Well, in that case, say it is neither God’s Word nor man’s word. Think of it as between the two.”

To which I rejoined:

“That’s not possible either. For if there is a disputed property for which there are two claimants, and the claimants are close both to one another and to the property, the property will either be given to someone other than them, or will be put somewhere accessible so that whoever proves ownership can take it. If the two claimants are far apart with one in the east and the other in the west, then according to the rule, it will remain with the one who has possession of it since it is not possible for it to be left somewhere between them.

“Thus, the Qur’an is a valuable property, and however distant man’s word is from God’s, the two sides in question are that far apart; indeed, they are infinitely far from one another. It is not possible for the Qur’an to be left between the two sides, which are as far apart as the Pleiades and the ground. For they are opposites like existence and non-existence or the two magnetic poles; there can be no point between them.

In which case, for the Qur’an, the one who possesses it is God’s side. It will be accepted as being in His possession, and the proofs of ownership will be regarded in that way. Should the opposing side refute all the arguments proving it to be God’s Word, it may claim ownership of it, otherwise it cannot. God forbid! What hand can pull out the nails fastening that vast jewel to the sublime throne of God, riveted as it is with thousands of certain proofs, and break its supporting pillars, causing it to fall?”

“Inspite of you, O Satan!, the just and the fair-minded reason in this equitable and rightful manner. They increase their belief in the Qur’an through even the slightest evidences.

While according to the way shown by you and your disciples, if just once it is supposed to be man’s word and that mighty jewel fastened to the divine throne is cast to the ground, a proof with the strength of all the nails and the firmness of many proofs becomes necessary in order to raise it from the ground and fasten it once more to the throne, and so be saved from the darkness of unbelief and reach the lights of belief. But because it is extremely difficult to do this, due to your wiles, many people are losing their faith at this time by imagining themselves to be making unbiased judgements.”

The Devil turned and said:

“The Qur’an resembles man’s word. It is similar to the way men converse. That means it is man’s word. If it were God’s Word, it would be appropriate to Him and altogether out of the ordinary. Just as His art does not resemble man’s art, so His Word should not resemble man’s word.”

I replied:

“It may be understood as follows: apart from his miracles and special attributes, the Prophet Muhammad (UWBP) was a human being in all his actions, conduct, and behaviour. He submitted to and complied with the divine laws and commands manifested in creation. He too suffered from the cold, experienced pain, and so on. His deeds and attributes were not all made out of the ordinary so that he could be the leader of his community through his actions, its guide through his conduct, and instruct it through all his behaviour. If he had been out of the ordinary in all his conduct, he could not have been the leader in every respect, the complete guide for everyone, the “Mercy to All the Worlds” through all his attributes.

“In just the same way, the All-Wise Qur’an is the leader of the aware and the conscious, the guide of jinn and men, the teacher of those aspiring to perfection, and instructor of those seeking reality. It has necessarily, therefore, to be in a form similar to human conversation and style.

For men and jinn take their supplications from it and learn their prayers from it; they express their concerns in its language, and learn from it the rules of social behaviour, and so on. Everyone has recourse to it.

If it had been in similar form to the divine speech that the Prophet Moses (Peace be upon him) heard on Mount Sinai, human beings could not have borne listening to it and hearing it, nor made it a point of reference and recourse. Moses (Peace be upon him), one of the five greatest prophets, could only endure to hear a few words. He said:

“‘Is Your speech thus?’ God replied: ‘I have the power of all tongues.’”(*)

Next, the Devil said:

“Many people speak of matters similar to those in the Qur’an in the name of religion. Isn’t it possible, therefore, that a human being did such a thing and made up the Qur’an in the name of religion?”

Inspired by the light of the Qur’an, I replied as follows:

“Firstly:Out of love of religion, someone who is religious may say: ‘The truth is this; in reality, the matter is thus; Almighty God commands such-and-such.’ But he would not make God speak to suit himself. Trembling at the verse,Who, then does more wrong than one who utters a lie concerning God?(39:32),he would not overstep his mark to an infinite degree, imitate God, and speak on His behalf.

“Secondly: It is in no way possible for a human being to be successful in doing such a thing on his own, in fact, it is completely impossible. People who resemble each other may imitate one another, people of the same nation look the same as one another, people who are close to one another in rank or status may impersonate one another and temporarily deceive people, but they cannot do so for ever. For in any event, the falseness and artificiality in their behaviour will show up their imposture to the observant, and their deception will not last.

If the person who is attempting to imitate another under false pretences is quite unlike them; for example, if an uneducated man wants to imitate in learning a genius like Ibn Sina, or a shepherd to assume the position of a king, of course they will not deceive anyone at all, they will only make fools of themselves. Everything they do will proclaim, ‘This is an impostor.’

“Thus, to suppose – God forbid!, a hundred thousand times – the Qur’an to be man’s word is utterly impossible; no rational being could accept its possibility; to do so is a delirium like imagining to be possible something that is self-evidently impossible, like a firefly being regarded by astronomers as a real star for a thousand years; or a fly appearing to observers in the form of a peacock for a year; or a bogus common private posing as a famous lofty field marshal, taking over his position and remaining in it for a long period without giving away his deception;

or like a slandering, unbelieving liar affecting the manner and position of the most truthful, trustworthy, upright believer throughout his life and being completely unruffled before even the most observant while concealing his fraud from them.

“In just the same way, if the Qur’an is supposed to be man’s word, then it has to be supposed, God forbid, that that Perspicuous Book – which is clearly a brilliant star; indeed, a sun of perfections perpetually scattering the lights of truth in the heavens of the world of Islam – is like a firefly, a spurious sham made up by a counterfeiting human; and those who are closest to it and study it most carefully do not realize this, and consider it to be a perpetual, exalted star and source of truth.

This is impossible a hundred times over, and even if you were to go a hundred times further in your diabolical machinations, O Satan, you could not make such an assertion, you could not deceive anyone of sound reason! Only sometimes you trick people by making them look from a great distance, thus making the star appear as small as a firefly.

“Thirdly: Also, if the Qur’an is imagined to be man’s word, it necessitates that the hidden reality of a criterion of truth and falsehood that is miraculous in its exposition, and through the testimony of its fruits, results, and effects, is gilded with the most spiritual and life-giving, the most truthful and happiness-bringing, the most comprehensive and exalted qualities in the world of humanity, is, God forbid, the fabrication of a single unaided and unlearned man’s mind, and that the great geniuses and brilliant scholars who observed him closely and studied him meticulously at no time saw any trace of counterfeit or pretence in him and always found him serious, genuine, and sincere.

“This is completely impossible, an idea so nonsensical as to shame the Devil himself, like dreaming up an utterly impossible situation. For it entails supposing a person who throughout his life demonstrated and taught trust, belief, confidence, sincerity, seriousness, and integrity through all his conduct, words, and actions, and raised eminently truthful and sincere followers, and was accepted as possessing the highest, most shining virtues, to be the most untrustworthy, insincere, and unbelieving.

For in this question there is no point between the two. “If, to suppose the impossible, the Qur’an were not the Word of God, it would fall from the divine throne to the ground; it would not remain somewhere between. While being the meeting-point of truths, it would become a source of superstition and myth. And if, God forbid, the one who proclaimed that wonderful decree was not God’s Messenger, it would necessitate his descending from the highest of the high to the lowest of the low, and from the degree of being the source of accomplishments and perfections to the level of being a mine of trickery and intrigue; he could not remain between the two. For one who lies and fabricates in God’s name falls to the very lowest of degrees.

“It is as impossible as permanently seeing a fly as a peacock, and all the time seeing the peacocks’s attributes in the fly. Only someone lacking all intelligence could imagine it to be possible.

“Fourthly:Also, if the Qur’an is imagined to be man’s word, it necessitates fancying that the Qur’an, which is a sacred commander of the community of Muhammad, mankind’s largest and most powerful army, is – God forbid – a powerless, valueless, baseless forgery. Whereas, self-evidently, through its powerful laws, sound principles, and penetrating commands, it has equipped that huge army both materially, and morally and spiritually, has imposed on it such an order, regularity, and discipline that it has conquered both this world and the next, and has instructed the minds of people each according to his degree, and trained their hearts, conquered their spirits, purified their consciences, and employed and utilized their limbs and members. To imagine it to be a counterfeit necessitates accepting a hundredfold impossibility.

“Such an impossibility entails the further total impossibility of supposing that a person who, through his deliberate conduct throughout his life taught mankind Almighty God’s laws, and through his honest behaviour instructed humanit y in the principles of truth, and through his sincere and reasonable words showed and established the straight way of moderation and happiness, and as all his life testifies, felt great fear at divine punishment and knew God better than anyone else and made Him known, and in splendid fashion has for one thousand three hundred and fifty years commanded a fifth of mankind and half the globe, and through his renowned qualities is in truth the pride of mankind, indeed, of the universe, – it entails the impossibility of supposing that, God forbid a hundred thousand times, he neither feared God, nor knew Him, nor held back from lying, nor had any self-respect.

Because in this matter there is no point between the two. For if, to suppose the impossible, the Qur’an is not the Word of God, if it falls from the divine throne to the ground, it cannot remain somewhere between the two. Indeed, it has to be said to be the property of the very worst of liars. And as for this, O Satan, even if you were a hundred times more satanic, you could not deceive any mind that was not unsound, nor persuade any heart that was not corrupted!”

The Devil retorted:

“That’s what you think! I have deceived most of mankind, and their foremost thinkers, into denying the Qur’an and Muhammad.”

I replied:

“Firstly:When seen from a great distance, the largest thing appears the same as the smallest. A star may even look like a candle.

“Secondly:Also, when seen both as secondary and superficially, something which is completely impossible may appear to be possible. “One time when an old man was watching the sky in order to spot the new moon of Ramadan, a white hair fell on his eye. Imagining it to be the moon, he announced:‘I have seen the new moon!’ Now, it is impossible that the white hair was the moon, but because his intention was to spot the moon and the hair was by the way and secondary, he paid it no attention and thought the impossibility was possible.

“Thirdly:Also, non-acceptance is one thing and denial is something quite different. Non-acceptance is indifference, a closing of the eyes to something, an ignorant absence of judgement. It may mask many completely impossible things and the mind does not concern itself with them. As for denial, it is not non-acceptance, but the acceptance of non-existence; it is a judgement. The mind is compelled to work. So a devil like you takes hold of someone’s mind and leads it to denial.

Showing the false to be truth and the impossible to be possible through such satanic wiles as heedlessness, misguidance, fallacious reasoning, obstinacy, false arguments, pride, deception, and habit, you make those unfortunate creatures in human form swallow unbelief and denial, although they comprise innumerable impossibilities.

“Fourthly:Also, if the Qur’an is supposed to be the word of man, it necessitates imagining to be its opposite a book that has self-evidently guided the purified, veracious saints and spiritual poles, who shine like stars in the heavens of the world of mankind, has continuously instructed all levels of perfected men in truth and justice, veracity and fidelity, faith and trustworthiness, and has ensured the happiness of this world and the next through the truths of the pillars of faith and the principles of the pillars of Islam; a book that through the testimony of its achievements is of necessit y veracious, and pure, genuine truth, and absolutely right, and most serious – it necessitates imagining, God forbid, that it comprises the opposites of these qualities, effects, and lights, and not only is a collection of fabrications and lies, but also a frenzy of unbelief that would shame even the Sophists and the devils, and cause them to tremble.

“This impossibility necessitates the further, most ugly and abhorrent, impossibility that the person who, according to the testimony of the religion and Shari‘a of Islam that he proclaimed, and the extraordinary fear of God and pure, sincere worship that he demonstrated throughout his life, and as necessitated by the good moral qualities unanimously witnessed in him, and according to the affirmation of the people of truth and perfection whom he raised, was the most believing, the most steadfast, the most trustworthy, and the most truthful, was – God forbid, and again, God forbid – without faith, that he was most untrustworthy, did not fear God, nor shrink from lying. To imagine this necessitates imagining the most loathsome form of impossibility and perpetrating the most iniquitous and vicious sort of misguidance.

“In Short:As is stated in the Eighteenth Sign of the Nineteenth Letter, the common people, who gain an understanding of the Qur’an’s miraculous nature by listening to it, say: ‘If I were to compare the Qur’an with all the other books I have listened to, or with all the other books in the world, it would resemble none of them; it is not the same as them in either kind or degree.’ The Qur’an, then, is either superior to all of them, or inferior to all of them. It is impossible that it is inferior, and no enemy or the Devil even could say that. In which case, the Qur’an is superior to all other books, and is therefore a miracle.

In just the same way, we say according to the categorical proof called “residue,” taken from the sciences of method and logic:

“O Satan and O disciples of Satan! The Qur’an is either the Word of God, come from the supreme throne of God and His Greatest Name, or, God forbid, and again, God forbid, it is a human forgery fabricated on earth by someone without belief who neither feared God nor knew Him. In the face of the above proofs, O Satan, you can neither say that, nor could you have said it, nor will you be able to say it in the future. Therefore, the Qur’an is the Word of the Creator of the universe. Because there is no point between the two; it is impossible and precluded that there should be. And we have proved it most clearly and decisively; and you have seen it and heard it.

“In the same way, Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace) is either God’s Messenger and the highest of the prophets and the most superior of creatures, or, God forbid, he has to be imagined to be someone without belief who fell to the lowest of the low because he lied concerning God, and did not know God, and did not believe in His punishment.(*)And as for this, O Devil, neither you, nor the philosophers of Europe or hypocrites of Asia on whom you rely, could say it; neither could you say it in the past, nor shall you be able to say it in the future, for there is no one in the world who would listen to it and accept it. It is because of this that the most corrupting of those philosophers and the most lacking in conscience of the hypocrites, even, admit that ‘Muhammad the Arabian (UWBP) was very clever, and was most moral and upright.’

“Since the matter is limited to these two sides, and the second one is impossible and no one at all claims it to be true, and since we have proved with decisive arguments that there is no point between them, for sure and of necessit y, in spite of you and your party, Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was the Messenger of God, and the highest of the prophets and the best of all creatures.”

Upon him be blessings and peace to the number of angels and jinn and men.

A Second, Small Objection of Satan

Not a word does he utter but there is a sentinel by him, ready [to note it]. * And the stupor of death will bring the truth [before his eyes]: “This was the thing you were trying to escape!” * And the trumpet shall be blown: that will be the Day whereof warning [had been given]. * And there will come forth every soul: with each will be [an angel] to drive, and [an angel] to bear witness. * “You were heedless of this; now have We removed your veil. And sharp is your sight this Day!” * And his companion will say: “Here is [his record] ready with me!” * “Throw, throw into Hell every contumacious rejecter!”(50:18-24)

One time while reading these verses from Sura Qaf, the Devil said to me: “You consider the principal aspects of the Qur’an’s eloquence to lie in its clarity and fluency of style, but in these verses it jumps from one subject to another. It jumps from death agonies to the resurrection of the dead, from the blowing of the trumpet to the Last Judgement, and from that to the entry into Hell of the unbelievers. What fluency of style can there be with this extraordinary switching about? In most places in the Qur’an, it brings together subjects like this that bear little relation to each other. Where is its eloquence and smoothness with such discontinuity?”

I answered as follows: After its eloquence, one of the chief elements of the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition’s inimitability is its conciseness. Conciseness is one of the strongest and most important elements of the Qur’an’s miraculousness. The instances of it are so numerous and beautiful that exacting scholars are left in wonder at it.

For example: Then the word went forth: “O earth! swallow up your water, and O sky! withhold [your rain]!” And the water abated, and the matter was ended. The ark rested on Mount Judi, and the word went forth: “Away with those who do wrong!”(11:44)

It describes the Great Flood and its consequences so concisely and miraculously in a few short sentences that it has caused many scholars of rhetoric to prostrate before its eloquence.

And, for example:كَذَّبَت۟ ثَمُودُ بِطَغ۟وٰيهَا ۝ اِذِ ان۟بَعَثَ اَش۟قٰيهَا ۝ فَقَالَ لَهُم۟ رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ نَاقَةَ اللّٰهِ وَسُق۟يٰيهَا ۝ فَكَذَّبُوهُ فَعَقَرُوهَا ۝ فَدَم۟دَمَ عَلَي۟هِم۟ رَبُّهُم۟ بِذَن۟بِهِم۟ فَسَوّٰيهَا ۝ وَلَا يَخَافُ عُق۟بٰيهَا

The Thamud rejected [their prophet] through their inordinate wrongdoing. * Behold, the most wicked man among them was deputed [for impiety]. * But the Apostle of God said to them: “It is a she-camel of God. And [bar her not from] having her drink!” * Then they rejected him, and they hamstrung her. So their Lord, on account of their crime, obliterated their traces and made them equal [in destruction, high and low]! * And for Him is no fear of its consequences.(91:11-15)In these few short sentences, with a miraculousness within the conciseness, fluency, and clarity, and in a way that does not spoil the understanding, the Qur’an relates the strange, momentous events involving the Thamud people and their consequences, and the Thamud’s calamitous end.

And for example:And remember Zun-Nun, when he departed in wrath: he imagined that We had no power over him. But he cried through the depths of darkness: “There is no god but You; glory be unto You; I was indeed among the wrongdoers.”(21:87)

Here, many sentences have been “rolled up” between the words “that We had no power over him” and “but he cried out in the depths of the darkness,” but these omitted sentences neither spoil the understanding, nor mar the fluency of the style. It mentions the chief elements of the story of Jonah (Upon whom be peace), and refers the rest to the intelligence.

And for example, in Sura Yusuf, the seven or eight sentences between the words “Send me” and “Joseph, O man of truth!”(12:45-6) have been skipped concisely, yet it neither impairs the understanding, nor mars the smoothness of the st yle.

There are a great many instances of this sort of miraculous conciseness in the Qur’an, and they are very beautiful indeed.

However, the conciseness of the verses from Sura Qaf are particularly wonderful and miraculous. For they each point out the truly dreadful future of the unbelievers when each endless day will last fifty thousand years, and the dire things that will happen to them in the awesome revolutions of the future. It flashes them over the mind like lightning, depicting that long, long period of time to the mind’s eye as a single present page. Referring the events that are not mentioned to the imagination, it evokes them with truly elevated fluency and smoothness of style.

When the Qur’an is read, listen to it with attention, and hold your peace: that you may receive mercy.(7:204)

And now if you have anything to say, O Satan, say it!

Satan replied: “I cannot oppose what you say, nor defend myself. But there are many foolish people who listen to me; and many devils in human form who assist me; and many pharaohs among philosophers who learn things from me which flatter their egos, and prevent the publication of works like yours. Therefore I shall not lay down my arms before you!”

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All Wise!(2:32)

Second Topic

[This Topic was written in response to the wonder expressed by those who serve me permanently at the surprising contradictions they see in my conduct. It is also intended to rectify the excessively good opinions of me of two of my students.]

I see that some of the perfections which properly pertain to the truths of the All- Wise Qur’an are attributed to the instruments who proclaim those truths. And this is wrong. For the sacredness of the source demonstrates effects as powerful as many proofs; it is through these that it makes everyone accept its injunctions. Whenever the herald or deputy obscures it, that is, whenever attention is turned to the herald, the sacredness loses its effectiveness. It is because of this that I shall explain a truth to my brothers who show me greater regard than is my due. It is as follows:

One person may have numerous personalities, all of which display different qualities. For example, when a high official is in his office, his position necessitates dignity and requires a stance that will preserve its loftiness. If he is humble before his visitors, it will be lowering and will debase the position. But when in his own house, his position requires – contrary to his official position – that he should be as modest as he can. If he stands on his dignity, it will be arrogant. And so on.

That is to say, a person assumes a personality when performing his duty or work that in many respects contradicts his true personalit y. If such a person is truly worthy of his duty and truly capable of it, the two personalities are close to each other. But if he lacks the capacity; if, for example, a common soldier is put in the position of a field marshal, the two personalities are far apart; the individual, lowly, inferior qualities of the soldier are incompatible with the elevated, superior character demanded by the position of field marshal.

Thus, this wretched brother of yours has three personalities, which are ver y distant from each other, truly very distant.

The First:In so far as I am a herald of the elevated treasury of the All-Wise Qur’an, I have a temporary personality that pertains solely to the Qur’an. The extremely exalted character demanded by this position is not mine; I do not possess such a character. It rather consists of the qualities necessitated by the position and the duty. Any qualities this sort that you see in me are not mine, so do not suppose I possess them; they belong to the position.

The Second Personality:Through Almighty God’s grace, a personality is given me at the time of worship when I am turned towards the divine court; it displays certain marks. These arise from knowing one’s faults, realizing one’s want and impotence, and seeking refuge in utter humility at the divine court, which are the basis and meaning of worship. Through this personality, I know myself to be more wretched, powerless, wanting, and faulty than everyone. If the whole world were to praise and applaud me, it could not make me believe that I am good or possess perfection of any sort.

The Third:I have my true personality, that is, the faulty personality of the Old Said, that is, certain veins of character inherited from the Old Said. Sometimes it inclines to hypocrisy and desires rank and position. Also, because I do not come from a noble family, inferior qualities are to be observed, like my being frugal to the point of miserliness.

My brothers! I am not going to describe the many secret faults and ills of this personality, lest I chase you away altogether.

My brothers, since I am not someone capable and of high position, this personality of mine is very far from the character demanded by the duties of herald and of worship; it does not show their traits. Also, in accordance with the rule, “No ability is needed to receive God’s gifts,” Almighty God has compassionately demonstrated His power in me so that He employs my personality, which is like that of the lowest common soldier, in serving the mysteries of the Qur’an, which resembles the highest position of field marshal. Thanks be to God a hundred thousand times! The soul is baser than everything, and the duty higher!

All praise be to God, this is a bounty from my Lord!

Third Topic

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

O mankind! We created you from a single [pair] of a male and a female,

and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other.(49:13)

That is, I created you as peoples, nations, and tribes, so that you might know one another and the relations between you in social life, and assist one another; not so that you would regard each other as strangers, refuse to acknowledge one another, and nurture hostility and enmity.

these are seven matters.

First Matter

Since the elevated truth stated by the above verse concerns the life of society, I have been compelled to write it in the tongue, not of the New Said, who wants to withdraw from society, but of the Old Said, who was involved in the social life of Islam. It is written intending to serve the Qur’an of Mighty Stature and to shield it against unjust attacks.

Second Matter

In explanation of the principle of mutual acquaintance and assistance alluded to by the above verse, we say this: an army is divided into divisions, the divisions into regiments, the regiments into battalions, and companies, and squads, so that all the soldiers may know their many different connections and related duties. In this way, they all will perform properly a general duty in accordance with the principle of mutual assistance, and the collectivity they form will be safe from the attacks of the enemy. The army is not arranged thus to be divided and split up, with one company competing with another, one battalion being hostile to another, and one division acting in opposition to another.

Similarly, Islamic society as a whole is a huge army that is divided into tribes and groups. Nevertheless, it has unity in numerous respects: its groups’ Creator is one and the same, their Provider is one and the same, their Prophet is one and the same, their qibla is one and the same, their Book is one and the same, their country is one and the same; a thousand things are one and the same.

All these things being one and the same necessitates brotherhood, love, and unity. That is to say, being divided into groups and tribes should lead to mutual acquaintance and mutual assistance, not to antipathy and mutual hostility.

Third Matter

The idea of nationalism has greatly advanced this century. The cunning European tyrants in particular awaken this among Muslims in negative fashion so they may divide them up and devour them.

Furthermore, in the idea of nationalism is a thrill of the soul, a heedless pleasure, an inauspicious power. For this reason people involved in social life at this time cannot be told to give it up.

However, nationalism is of two kinds: one is negative, inauspicious, and harmful; it is nourished by devouring others, persists through hostility to others, and is aware of what it is doing. It is the cause of enmity and disturbance. This is the reason the Hadith states that Islam has abrogated what preceded it and put an end to the tribalism of Ignorance.(*)And the Qur’an decrees:

While the unbelievers got up in their hearts, heat and cant – the heat and cant of Ignorance – God sent down His tranquillity to His Messenger and to the believers,

And the Quran also decreed:

and made them stick close to the command of self-restraint; and well were they entitled to it and worthy of it. And God has full knowledge of all things.(48:26)

The above Hadith and verse reject in definite terms negative nationalism and racialism. For positive, sacred Islamic nationhood leaves no need for them.

What race has three hundred and fifty million members? Which racialism can gain for those who subscribe to it so many brothers – and eternal brothers at that – in place of Islam? Negative nationalism has caused untold harm in history.

In Short:The Umayyads combined some nationalistic ideas with their politics, and vexed the World of Islam. They also brought down many calamities on themselves.

Also, the European nations have promoted the idea of racialism enormously this century; the ghastly events of the Great War demonstrated just how harmful negative nationalism is, in addition to the perpetual, ill-omened enmity of the French and Germans.

And with us, in the Second Constitutional Period, – like the myriad tongues at the destruction of the Tower of Babel, known as the “ramification of peoples,”and their resulting dispersal – various refugee societies called “clubs” were formed, chiefly by the Armenians and Greeks, because of their negative, nationalistic ideas, and these were the cause of division. From that time to now, the condition of those devoured by the Europeans due to those clubs, and of those made wretched by them, has again demonstrated the harm of negative nationalism.

As for the present, when the peoples and tribes of Islam are most in need of one another, and each is more oppressed and more poverty-stricken than the others, and they are crushed beneath European domination, to regard one another as strangers due to the idea of nationalism and look on each other as enemies, is such a calamity it is indescribable.

It is quite simply a lunacy like turning one’s back on dreadful serpents so as to avoid being bitten by a mosquito and struggling with the mosquito – due to the idea of nationalism. To attach no importance to the European nations, which are like huge dragons, at a time when with their insatiable greed their grasping hands are outstretched, indeed, to in effect help them and to nurture enmity against fellow- citizens in the eastern provinces or brother Muslims to the south, and to take up positions opposed to them, is extremely detrimental and dangerous. In any event there are no enemies among the people to the south that they should form a front against them. The Qur’an’s light comes from the south; it is where the light of Islam came from. It is present among us and is found everywhere.

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!

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!

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.

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:

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?

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.

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!

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.]

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,(*)and you ask the wisdom in this number.

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.”(*)

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

“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.

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.

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.

Fourth Matter

You ask concerning the wisdom contained in [the Hadith]: “Renew your belief by means of ‘There is no god but God.’”(*)The wisdom in it has been mentioned in many of the Words and one aspect of it is as follows: Since man himself and the world in which he lives are being continuously renewed, he needs constantly to renew his faith. For in reality each individual human being consists of many individuals.

He may be considered a different individual to the number of the years of his life, or to the number of its days or even hours. For since a single individual is subject to time, he is like a model and each passing day clothes him in the form of another individual.

Furthermore, just as there is within man this plurality and renewal, so also is the world in which he lives in motion. It goes and is replaced by another. It varies constantly. Every day opens the door of another world.

As for faith, it is both the light of the life of each individual in that person, and it is the light of the world in which he lives. And as for “There is no god but God,” it is a key with which to turn on the light.

Then the instinctual soul, desire, doubts, and Satan exercise great influence over man. In order to damage his faith, they are much of the time able to take advantage of his negligence, to trick him with their wiles, and thus to extinguish the light of belief with doubts and uncertainty.

Also, man is prone to act and utter words which apparently oppose the Shari‘a, and which in the view of some religious authorities are no less 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.’”(*)and to his Family and Companions, and grant them peace.

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.

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.

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(*)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(*)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)

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.(*)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?

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.

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.

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,”(*)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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The Twenty-Fifth Letter ⇐ | The Letters | ⇒ The Twenty-Seventh Letter

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