Yirmi İkinci Lem'a/en

In His Name, be He glorified!

This highly confidential short treatise, which I wrote twenty- two years ago specifically for my closest and most select and sincere brothers while in the village of Barla in the Province of Isparta, I am dedicating to Isparta’s just Governor, judiciary, and police. This is because of the concern shown by both the people and the authorities of Isparta. If appropriate, several copies should be written by typewriter in either the old or new letters so that those who have been holding me under surveillance and searching out my secrets these twenty-five years may know that I have no hidden secrets whatsoever. They should know that my most hidden secret is this treatise!

Said Nursî

Three Indications

[While being the Third Matter of the Seventeenth Note of the Seventeenth Flash, because of the harshness and comprehensiveness of the questions and strength and brilliance of the answers, this was incorporated in the Flashes as the Twenty-Second Flash of the Thirty-First Letter. The Flashes had to give it a place. It is confidential and special to my most select, sincere, and loyal brothers.]

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

And if anyone puts his trust in God, sufficient is [God] for him. For God will surely accomplish His purpose. Verily for all things has God appointed a due proportion.(65:3)

This matter consists of three indications.

FIRST INDICATION

An important question about my person and the Risale-i Nur:

many people ask, “Although you have not meddled in ‘the worldly’s’ world, why do they meddle in your hereafter at every opportunity? Whereas no government’s laws interfere with recluses and people who have abandoned the world?”

The Answer: The New Said’s reply to this question is silence. The New Said says: “Let divine determining give the answer for me.” Nevertheless, since I’m compelled to, the Old Said’s head, which the New Said has borrowed on trust, says: those who should give the answer to this question are the authorities of Isparta Province, and its people. For they are much more concerned with the meaning underlying this question than I am. Since the administration, which consists of thousands of people, and the people, who number hundreds of thousands, are obliged to consider it and defend it in my place, why should I speak with the prosecutors unnecessarily, and defend myself?

I have been in this province for nine years, and I am gradually turning my back more and more on their world. No aspect of my life has remained hidden. Even my most secret and confidential treatises have come into the hands of the government and some of the deputies.

If I had meddled at all in worldly matters, which would have caused ‘the worldly’ alarm and anxiety, or if I had made any attempt to meddle, or if I had had any idea of doing so, this province and the local government in the towns would have known. But although I have been under their scrutiny and surveillance for nine years, and I too have not hesitated to divulge my secrets to those who have visited me, the authorities have remained silent and have not bothered me.

If I had displayed any fault that could have been harmful to this country’s happiness and future, and to its people, over this nine years everyone from the Governor to the village police chief would have been responsible. So to save themselves from such responsibility they are obliged to defend me in the face of those who make molehills into mountains concerning me, and make the mountains into molehills. In which case, I refer this question to them to answer. The reason the people of this province are mostly obliged to defend me more than I do myself is that with hundreds of treatises that have demonstrated their effectiveness materially and in fact, I have worked these nine years for their eternal life and strength of belief and happiness in life, for they are both brothers, and friends, and blessed; and no upset or harm at all has been suffered by anyone on account of the treatises; and not the slightest sign of anything political or worldly has been encountered; and, praise be to God, by means of the Risale-i Nur, this province of Isparta has gained in respect of strength of belief and firmness in religion a degree of blessedness resembling the blessedness of Damascus in former times and of al-Azhar in Egypt; and the Risale-i Nur has made the power of belief prevail over indifference and the desire to worship prevail over vice in the province, and has made it more religious than any other province. Since this is the case, all its people, even supposing they are irreligious, are obliged to defend me and the Risale-i Nur. While they have such important rights of defence, my unimportant right does not drive me to defend myself now that I, lacking all power, have completed my duty and, thanks be to God, thousands of students have worked and are working in my place. Someone with so many thousands of advocates does not defend his own case.

SECOND INDICATION

The answer to a critical question.

‘The worldly’ ask: “Why are you angry with us? You have not made application to us even once, and are silent. You complain about us bitterly, saying that we are unjust towards you. But we have our principles, we have our particular rules as demanded by the times, and you do not accept that they should be applied to you. The person who applies the law is not a tyrant, and the person who does not accept the law is rebellious.

For instance, in this age of freedom and new republican era which we have inaugurated, the principle – on the basis of equality – of abolishing oppression and subjugation of others is as though our fundamental law. However, it is understood from your open behaviour and your adventurous life in the former period that whether by assuming the position of hoja or of being an ascetic, you try to draw the public gaze on yourself and attract attention, so to secure a power and social position outside the government’s influence. This may appear desirable within – according to current terminology – the despotic tyranny of the bourgeouisie. But since the principles of pure socialism and bolshevism, which have emerged with the awakening and ascendancy of the common people, are more conformable with our interests, we have accepted them, and your position is disagreeable to us; it opposes our principles. For this reason you do not have the right to complain about or be angry at the distress we cause you.”

The Answer: If someone who opens up a new way in the life of human society does not act in conformity with the natural laws in force in the universe, he cannot be successful in beneficial works and in progress. All his acts come to serve the interests of evil and destruction. Since actions have to be in conformity with the natural laws, absolute equality can be applied only by changing human nature and removing the fundamental wisdom in the mankind’s creation.

Yes, by birth and the way I have lived I am from the class of common people, and I am one of those who by temperament and intellectually have accepted the way of equality of rights. And due to compassion and the justice proceeding from Islam, I am a person who for a long time has opposed and worked against the despotism and oppression of the elite class called the bourgeouisie. I therefore support total justice with all my strength, and oppose tyranny, oppression, arbitrary power, and despotism.

However, human nature and the underlying wisdom in humankind are contrary to the law of absolute equality. For to demonstrate His perfect power and wisdom, the All-Wise Creator produces many crops from a single thing, causes many books to be written on a single page, and causes many functions to be performed by a single thing; and in the same way, He causes the duties of thousands of species to be carried out by humankind.

It is because of this great mystery that Almighty God created man with a nature that would produce the shoots of thousands of species and display the levels of the thousands of other species of living creatures. No limit was placed on his powers, subtle faculties, and senses like the other animals; since He left him free and gave him a capacity whereby his senses could roam through endless degrees, although only one species, mankind became like thousands of species.

For this reason, man became vicegerent of the earth, the result of the universe, and monarch of animate beings. The most important leaven and mechanism giving rise to the variety in mankind is competition and the true virtue resulting from belief. Virtue can only be removed through changing human nature, extinguishing the reason, killing the heart, and annihilating the spirit.

Yes, this age with its awesome tyranny under the veil of freedom deserves to be struck in the face with the following masterly lines, which, written by a most important person,(*)have been wrongly brandished in his face, although he deserved no slap:

It is not possible through tyranny and injustice to destroy freedom;

Try to remove consciousness, if you can, from humankind.

In place of these lines, I say, in order to strike this age in the face:

It is not possible through tyranny and injustice to destroy reality;

Try to annihilate the heart, if you can, in humankind.

Or,

It is not possible through tyranny and injustice to destroy virtue;

Try to annihilate the conscience, if you can, in humankind.

Yes, just as the virtue arising from belief cannot be the cause of oppression, so it cannot be the cause of despotism. Oppression and arbitrary despotism indicate the absence of virtue. The chief way the people of virtue in particular interfere in the life of society is through impotence, poverty, and humility. All praise be to God, my life has passed on this way, and is passing on it. I do not claim this out of pride, saying that I possess some virtue. I say the following as thanks and to make known a divine bounty:

Through His grace and munificence, Almighty God bestowed on me the virtue of working for the sciences of belief and the Qur’an. All praise be to God, throughout my life I have spent this divine bounty for the benefit and happiness of this Muslim nation, and just as at no time have I used it to dominate and oppress people, so for an important reason I detest public attention and being fêted by people, which is sought after by the neglectful; I flee from it. Twenty years of my former life were lost because of it, so I look on it as harmful for me. But since I know that public attention is a sign that the people like the Risale-i Nur, I do not put them off.

O you whose view is restricted to the life of this world! In no way have I meddled in your world, nor have I had anything to do with your principles, nor as is testified to by my life these nine years of captivity, have I had any intention or desire to meddle in the world again. So according to what law have you inflicted all this surveillance and oppression on me as though I were an old oppressor who was ever ready to seize an opportunity and supported the idea of tyranny and despotism? No government in the world permits such treatment over and above the law, nor is it recommended by anyone. It is not only me who is sick of the ill-treatment I have had meted out to me so far, if they knew of it all mankind would be disgusted, and even the universe!

THIRD INDICATION

A fallacious, crazy question.

Some members of the judiciary say: “Since you reside in this country, you should abide by its republican laws. So why do you elude those laws under the cloak of being a recluse? For instance, according to the present laws of the government, it is opposed to one of the principles of the republic, which is based on equality, to assume some virtue, some merit, outside one’s duty, and through it to dominate some of the nation and exercise power and influence. Why do you have your hand kissed, though you hold no position? Why do you assume a position advertising yourself and wanting the people to listen to you?”

The Answer: Those who apply the law, may apply it to others after first applying it to themselves. If you apply a principle to others which you have not applied to yourselves, you are infringing and opposing your own principle and law before anyone. You want to apply this law of absolute equality to me. So I say this:

Whenever a common soldier rises to the social rank of a field marshal and shares in the respect and acclaim the nation shows to the field marshal and is the object of acclaim and respect the same as him; or whenever the field marshal becomes as common as the soldier and assumes the soldier’s lowly position and he retains no value whatsoever outside his duty; and whenever the most brilliant military commander who leads the army to victories receives public acclaim, respect and affection equal to that of the dimmest common soldier; then as required by this law of equality of yours, you can tell me: “Don’t call yourself a hoja! Don’t accept respect! Deny your virtue! Serve the servants, and take beggars as your friends!”

If you say: “Respect, social position, and public attention are in regard to functions and particular to those who perform them when they are performing them. But you have no function, so you may not accept the people’s respect as though you did have one.”

Elcevap: Eğer insan yalnız bir cesetten ibaret olsa ve insan dünyada lâyemutane daimî kalsa ve kabir kapısı kapansa ve ölüm öldürülse, o vakit vazife yalnız askerlik ve idare memurlarına mahsus kalırsa sözünüzde dahi bir mana olurdu. Fakat madem insan yalnız cesetten ibaret değil. Cesedi beslemek için kalp, dil, akıl, dimağ koparılıp o cesede yedirilmez, onlar imha edilmez. Onlar da idare ister.

Ve madem kabir kapısı kapanmıyor ve madem kabrin öbür tarafındaki endişe-i istikbal her ferdin en mühim meselesidir. Elbette milletin itaat ve hürmetine istinad eden vazifeler, yalnız milletin hayat-ı dünyeviyesine ait içtimaî ve siyasî ve askerî vazifelere münhasır değildir.

Evet, yolculara seyahat için vesika vermek bir vazife olduğu gibi ebed tarafına giden yolculara da hem vesika hem o zulümatlı yolda nur vermek öyle bir vazifedir ki hiçbir vazife, o vazife kadar ehemmiyetli değildir. Böyle bir vazifenin inkârı, ölümün inkârıyla ve her gün اَل۟مَو۟تُ حَقٌّ davasını, cenazelerinin mührüyle imza edip tasdik eden otuz bin şahidin şehadetini tekzip ve inkâr etmekle olur.

Madem manevî hâcat-ı zaruriyeye istinad eden manevî vazifeler var. Ve o vazifelerin en mühimmi, ebed yolunda seyahat için pasaport varakası ve berzah zulümatında kalbin cep feneri ve saadet-i ebediyenin anahtarı olan imandır ve imanın ders ve takviyesidir. Elbette o vazifeyi gören ehl-i marifet, herhalde küfran-ı nimet suretinde kendine edilen nimet-i İlahiyeyi ve fazilet-i imaniyeyi hiçe sayıp sefihler ve fâsıkların makamına sukut etmeyecektir. Kendini, aşağıların bid’alarıyla, sefahetleriyle bulaştırmayacaktır! İşte beğenmediğiniz ve müsavatsızlık zannettiğiniz inziva bunun içindir.

İşte bu hakikatle beraber, beni işkence ile taciz eden sizin gibi enaniyette ve bu kanun-u müsavatı kırmakta firavunluk derecesinde ileri giden mütekebbirlere karşı demiyorum. Çünkü mütekebbirlere karşı tevazu, tezellül zannedildiğinden, tevazu etmemek gerektir. Belki ehl-i insaf ve mütevazi ve âdil kısmına derim ki:

Ben felillahi’l-hamd kendi kusurumu, aczimi biliyorum. Değil Müslümanlar üstünde mütekebbirane bir makam-ı ihtiram istemek, belki her vakit nihayetsiz kusurlarımı, hiçliğimi görüp, istiğfar ile teselli bulup halklardan ihtiram değil, dua istiyorum. Hem zannederim benim bu mesleğimi, benim bütün arkadaşlarım biliyorlar.

Yalnız bu kadar var ki Kur’an-ı Hakîm’in hizmeti esnasında ve hakaik-i imaniyenin dersi vaktinde o hakaik hesabına ve Kur’an şerefine o makamın iktiza ettiği izzet ve vakar-ı ilmiyeyi ders vaktinde muhafaza edip, başımı ehl-i dalalete eğmemek için o izzetli vaziyeti muvakkaten takınıyorum. Zannederim, ehl-i dünyanın kanunlarının haddi yoktur ki bu noktalara karşı çıkabilsin!

Cây-ı hayret bir tarz-ı muamele: Malûmdur ki her yerde ehl-i maarif, marifet ve ilim noktasında muhakeme eder. Nerede ve kimde marifet ve ilmi görse meslek itibarıyla ona karşı bir dostluk ve bir hürmet besler. Hattâ düşman bir hükûmetin bir profesörü bu memlekete gelse ehl-i maarif, onun ilim ve marifetine hürmeten onu ziyaret ederler ve ona hürmet ederler.

Halbuki İngiliz’in en yüksek meclis-i ilmiyesinin, Meşihat-ı İslâmiye’den sorduğu altı sualin cevabını, altı yüz kelime ile Meşihat-ı İslâmiye’den istedikleri zaman, bura maarifinin hürmetsizliğine uğrayan bir ehl-i marifet, o altı suale altı kelime ile mazhar-ı takdir olmuş bir cevap veren ve ecnebilerin en mühim ve hükemaların en esaslı düsturlarına hakiki ilim ve marifetle muaraza edip galebe çalan ve Kur’an’dan aldığı kuvvet-i marifet ve ilme istinaden Avrupa feylesoflarına meydan okuyan ve Hürriyet’ten altı ay evvel İstanbul’da hem ulemayı ve hem de mekteplileri münazaraya davet edip kendisi hiç sual sormadan suallerine noksansız olarak doğru cevap veren (Hâşiye) ve bütün hayatını bu milletin saadetine hasreden ve yüzer risale, o milletin Türkçe olan lisanıyla neşredip o milleti tenvir eden hem vatandaş hem dindaş hem dost hem kardeş bir ehl-i marifete karşı en ziyade sıkıntı veren ve hakkında adâvet besleyen ve belki hürmetsizlik eden; bir kısım Maarif Dairesine mensup olanlarla az bir kısım resmî hocalardır.

İşte gel bu hale ne diyeceksin? Medeniyet midir? Maarif-perverlik midir? Vatan-perverlik midir? Milliyet-perverlik midir? Cumhuriyet-perverlik midir? Hâşâ! Hâşâ! Hiç, hiçbir şey değil. Belki bir kader-i İlahîdir ki o kader-i İlahî, o ehl-i marifet adamın dostluk ümit ettiği yerden adâvet gösterdi ki hürmet yüzünden ilmi riyaya girmesin ve ihlası kazansın.

Hâtime

Kendimce cây-ı hayret ve medar-ı şükran bir taarruz:

Bu fevkalâde enaniyetli ehl-i dünyanın enaniyet işinde o kadar hassasiyet var ki eğer şuuren olsa idi, keramet derecesinde veyahut büyük bir deha derecesinde bir muamele olurdu. O muamele de şudur:

Kendi nefsim ve aklım bende hissetmedikleri bir parça riyakârane enaniyet vaziyetini, onlar enaniyetlerinin hassasiyet mizanıyla hissediyorlar gibi şiddetli bir surette ben hissetmediğim enaniyetimin karşısına çıkıyorlar. Bu sekiz dokuz senede, sekiz dokuz defa tecrübem var ki onların zalimane bana karşı muamelelerinin vukuundan sonra, kader-i İlahîyi düşünüp “Ne için bunları bana musallat etti?” diye nefsimin desiselerini arıyordum. Her defada, ya nefsim şuursuz olarak enaniyete fıtrî meyletmiş veyahut bilerek beni aldatmış, anlıyorum. O vakit kader-i İlahî, o zalimlerin zulmü içerisinde hakkımda adalet etmiş, derdim.

Ezcümle: Bu yazın arkadaşlarım güzel bir ata beni bindirdiler. Bir seyrangâha gittim. Şuursuz olarak nefsimde hodfüruşane bir keyif arzusu uyanmakla ehl-i dünya öyle şiddetli o arzumun karşısına çıktılar ki yalnız o gizli arzuyu değil belki çok iştihalarımı kestiler.

Hattâ ezcümle, bu defa ramazandan sonra, eski zamanda gayet büyük, kudsî bir imamın bize karşı gaybî kerametiyle iltifatından sonra kardeşlerimin takva ve ihlasları ve ziyaretçilerin hürmet ve hüsn-ü zanları içinde –ben bilmeyerek– nefsim müftehirane, güya müteşekkirane perdesi altında riyakârane bir enaniyet vaziyetini almak istedi. Birden bu ehl-i dünyanın hadsiz hassasiyetle ve hattâ riyakârlığın zerrelerini de hissedebilir bir tarzda, birden bana iliştiler. Ben Cenab-ı Hakk’a şükrediyorum ki bunların zulmü bana bir vasıta-i ihlas oldu.

رَبِّ اَعُوذُ بِكَ مِن۟ هَمَزَاتِ الشَّيَاطٖينِ ۝ وَاَعُوذُ بِكَ رَبِّ اَن۟ يَح۟ضُرُونِ

اَللّٰهُمَّ يَا حَافِظُ يَا حَفٖيظُ يَا خَي۟رَ ال۟حَافِظٖينَ اِح۟فَظ۟نٖى وَ اح۟فَظ۟ رُفَقَائٖى مِن۟ شَرِّ النَّف۟سِ وَ الشَّي۟طَانِ وَ مِن۟ شَرِّ ال۟جِنِّ وَ ال۟اِن۟سَانِ وَ مِن۟ شَرِّ اَه۟لِ الضَّلَالَةِ وَ اَه۟لِ الطُّغ۟يَانِ اٰمٖينَ اٰمٖينَ اٰمٖينَ

سُب۟حَانَكَ لَا عِل۟مَ لَنَٓا اِلَّا مَا عَلَّم۟تَنَٓا اِنَّكَ اَن۟تَ ال۟عَلٖيمُ ال۟حَكٖيمُ

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