The Second Part (The Conclusive Proof)

THE SECOND PART

of The Staff of Moses

(peace be upon him)

THE CONCLUSIVE PROOF

(HUJJATU’LLĀHI’L-BĀLIGHA)

(It consists of Eleven Proofs of Faith)

Author │BEDĪ‘UZZAMĀN SA‘ĪD NURSĪ

Hijri 1366 │AD 1946

This epistle has not only been very much appreciated by the committee of experts [appointed by the court to investigate The Book of Light Corpus] but it is also a significant means for our acquittal and a sharpest, elevated and powerful and a conclusive proof and a crystal clear evidence that breaks the back of the absolute disbelief (kufr).

The First Proof of Faith

The Second Station (Maqām) of The Supreme Sign

(The Seventh Ray)

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحمنِ الرَّحِيمِ (a)

تُسَبِّحُ لَهُ السَّمَوَاتُ السَّبْعُ وَالأَرْضُ وَمَنْ فِيهِنَّ وَإِنْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ

إِلاَّ يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ وَلَكِنْ لاَ تَفْقَهُونَ تَسْبِيحَهُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ حَلِيمًا غَفُورًا (b)

This Second Station, along with interpreting this Qur’ānic verse, expounds the evidences, proofs, translation and a short interpretation of the skipped Arabic First Station. It is the observations of a traveller who inquires about his Creator directly from the major components of universe.

Many Qur’ānic verses like this great verse make known the Creator of the universe (Khāliqu’l-kāināt) by first mentioning the heavens, that most radiant page of unity (tawḥīd). All behold them, at all times, with intense wonderment and observe them with great sensitivity and pleasure. It would then be most befitting to start with this radiant page - the heavens. Yes, every time every single guest, who comes to this world land and guest house, opens his eyes and looks, he sees a banquet hall of surpassing generosity, and an exhibition hall of surpassing artistry, an encampment and training-ground of surpassing splendour and awe, a promenade and a gazing spot, of an unsurpassed ability to engender wonderment and longing, and a place for contemplation replete with deep meanings and wisdom.

While this guest is being passionately curious about knowing and gaining true knowledge about the Owner of this beautiful guest house,

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a In the Name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

b The seven heavens and the earth and everyone in them glorify Him. There is not a single thing but that it celebrates His praise, though you do not understand their praise: He is surely Forbearing, Forgiving. (Qur’ān: al-Isrā', 17:44) 

the Author of this great book, and the Sultan of this awe-inspiring land, the beautiful face of the sky inscribed with the gilding of light appears to him and says: ‘Look at me! I will give you news of that which you are looking for’.

He looks, and sees the framework of a reality, in which subjugation, direction, the causation of motion, organisation, purification, and appointment were all manifest. All were witnessed within a manifestation of lordship (rubūbiyyah) in which hundreds of thousands of celestial bodies, some of which are a thousand times greater than the earth, are rotated, without any prop or support - they are never allowed to fall. Some of these great bodies move seventy times faster than a cannonball. They are all driven along at high speeds, without their ever colliding. This manifestation of lordship (rubūbiyyah) continuously fuels these innumerable lights, yet without oil and without them ever being extinguished. It directs these extraordinary, vast masses, without a clamour, and without any deficiency or disorder. It uses these vast creations in particular tasks, just like the tasks of the sun and the moon, without any rebellion taking place.

It unrestrictedly acts within the same time, same power, same way, same seal of disposition, and same form, each one of them together, without any blemish, across distances endlessly great such that calculation cannot delimit it between the sphere of the two poles. It subjects those extraordinary, vast masses to their corresponding laws, those masses that carry exceedingly high energies without ever exceeding the bounds.

This manifestation of lordship (rubūbiyyah) brilliantly and beautifully makes the face of the sky to be clean, and not allowing sweepings such as the wreckage of that endless crowdedness to dirty it. It drives those great masses along in operations that resemble the military manoeuvres of a regular army. Through its rotation of the earth, it presents to its audience of creatures the vision of sublime manoeuvres, of types both real and imagined and within different forms, as if it is the [different] screenings within a cinema every night and every year.

This sublime and all-encompassing reality [that is made up of subjugation, direction, the causation of motion, organisation, purification, and appointment] is then an eyewitness to the necessity of the existence of a Creator of these heavens, as well as that of His unicity (waḥdah). It witnesses that His existence is in fact more apparent than that of the heavens themselves.

Regarding this meaning it has been mentioned in ‘The First Level’ of ‘The First Station’:

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ الَّذِي دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُوبِ وُجُودِهِ فِي وَحْدَتِهِ السَّمَاوَاتُ

بِجَمِيعِ مَا فِيهَا بِشَهَادَةِ عَظَمَةِ إِحَاطَةِ حَقِيقَةِ التَّسْخِيرِ وَالتَّدْبِيرِ

وَالتَّدْوِيرِ وَالتَّنْظِيمِ وَالتَّوْظِيفِ الوَاسِعَةِ المُكَمَّلَةِ بِالمُشَاهَدَةِ

There is no god but Allāh. The heavens, along with all that they contain, demonstrate the necessity of His unitary existence, by the testimony of the sublimity of the all-encompassing realities of subjugation, direction, the causation of motion, organisation, purification, and appointment, that are witnessed as being vast and perfected.

Then the sky, known also as the sphere of the heavens, and which is the place of assembly of many wonders, calls to that traveller and guest who came to the world, with its thunder, and roars ‘Look at me! Through me, it is within your reach to find that which you are seeking with such passion - and to find that which sent you here’. The travelling guest looks into his grave yet compassionate face, and heard his thunder that was terrifying, yet bore good tidings.

He sees that the clouds hanging in between the sky and the earth water the garden of the earth in a tremendously wise and merciful fashion. To the inhabitants of the earth they come with life-giving water. They ease the extreme heat that is, the intensity of life’s fire, and run to help each place according to their individual need. And these vast clouds, that suddenly fill the sky, fulfil many other tasks similar to these; they suddenly hide, just as a regular army, according to direct orders, vanishing and appearing once more. All of the elements of the clouds then incline to rest. No trace of them is seen. Within an hour, they all gather together again - or indeed, within a few minutes. Then, just as they hear the command “Ready to rain, march!”, they all gather together, and within an hour or a few minutes fill the sky. As if awaiting the orders of a commander, the clouds stand at attention.

The traveller then looks to the winds in the atmosphere. He sees that the air is used for so large a variety of tasks, with a surpassing wisdom and generosity that it is as if every unconscious atom of this inanimate air listens to, and knows the commands being issued from the Sultan of the universe.

It fulfils these commands without hesitating in performing a single one of them, through the power of that Commander, and it does so in an orderly fashion.

An unseen hand wields the air in supremely universal tasks and services, with the utmost consciousness, knowledge and regard for life. The air facilitates the breathing of every self on earth, it conveys all the necessities of living creatures, such as heat, light and electricity, it conveys sound, and acts as an intermediary in the pollination of plants.

The visitor then looks to the rain. He sees that within these elegant, twinkling, sweet and pure droplets, that are sent from nothingness and from the unseen treasury of mercy, are so large a number of merciful gifts and tasks that it is as if mercy itself descends in physical form, from the Divine treasury, in the forms of rain droplets. It is for this reason that rain is also named ‘mercy’.

He then looks to the lightning, and listens to the thunder. He perceives that they are used in very strange and marvellous services. He returns his gaze, and looks to his own intellect, addressing himself: ‘There is no doubt that these clouds, like fluffed up wool, that are inanimate and have no consciousness, do not know us, do not strive to help us on their own accord out of mercy. They do not appear and disappear until they have received a command - indeed, they move by the command of such a consummately Omnipotent (Al-Qadīr) and Compassionate (Ar-Raḥīm) Commander, that they disappear without leaving a trace.

They appear suddenly and begin working, filling the atmosphere, and then, from time to time, they disappear, by the command and strength of an eminently Active, Exalted, Sublime and Majestic Sultan of multifarious manifestations. He transforms them into a tablet upon which He continuously writes with wisdom and erases with dispensation, and a tablet of erasure and confirmation (maḥw wa ithbāṭ), and He turns them into an image of the Gathering (al-ḥashr) and Doomsday (the Day of Qiyāmah). The clouds ride on the winds, under the direction of a Ruling Disposer of affairs (Al-Ḥākimu’l-Mudabbir) who is immensely subtle, beneficent, supremely generous, and cherishing. And He makes the mountainous treasuries of rain mount on the winds. Just in time, they deliver it to places in need. It is as if the clouds pity them, and crying over their state, they come with their tears, and make the flowers smile. They ease the severe heat of the sun. Like sponges, they sprinkle water onto the gardens of those lands, and wash the face of the earth until it is clean.’

This inquisitive traveller again addresses his own intellect: ‘This inanimate air, that has neither life nor consciousness, is in itself in constant change, never settling, stormy, and characterised by restlessness, with neither stability nor purpose. Under the cover and in the outer form of this air, all of these hundreds of thousands of events, blessings and acts of assistance come into existence overflowing with wisdom, mercy and artistry. This proves self-evidently that this hardworking wind and active servant do not derive movement from their own essences.

It rather moves by the command of a commander who is supremely Omnipotent (Al-Qadīr) and Knowing (Al-‘Alīm), and immensely Wise (Al-Ḥakīm) and Generous (Al-Karīm). It is as if each particle of air knows every command and activity, understands and listens to every single one of the commands of that Commander. It listens to every Divine command issued into the air, and obeys it like a soldier.

I see that the particles of air, composed of two simple elements, nitrogen and oxygen, facilitate the breathing of animals and therefore the perpetuation of their lives, the pollination and growth of plants, the conveyance of necessities for their lives, the turning about of the clouds and their management, the sailing of fuelless ships, and especially conveying sounds, and those conversations that take place through the wireless, and the telegraph, and the radio. In addition to these universal, general services, the particles of the air are used by a hand of wisdom in perfect order, in the Divine works of art that are laid all across the face of the earth in hundreds of thousands of forms, though all those particles are the same as each other.’

He then came to a certain judgement. ‘Thus, the one who freely disposes of the winds, and uses them in endless Divine operations, is no other than the Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd), the One capable of doing all things (Qādiru kulli shay'), the Knower of all things (‘Ālimu kulli shay'), the Lord, Possessor of Majesty and Bounty (Ar-Rabbu Dhu’l-Jalāli wa’l-ikrām) just as is made clear in the following verse:

وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيَاحِ وَالسَّحَابِ المُسَخَّرِ بَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالأَرْضِ (a)

He then looked to the rain, and to the fact that it contains as many benefits as there are raindrops, and as many manifestations of mercy as there are beads of rain, and wisdom to the number of its tricklings.

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a And the turning about of the winds, and the clouds subjugated between the sky and earth. (Qur’ān: al-Baqarah, 2:164) 

He saw that those sweet, elegant and blessed droplets are created in a marvellous and orderly fashion. They are sent, and descend with the same organisation and balance as the hail that comes especially in summer. The raging winds that surge and swell in storms, and cause vast things to crash into one another, are not without their own balance and organisation. The droplets are not made into harmful masses by combining with one another into larger masses. This water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, two simple, inanimate and unconscious elements that are both utilised in immensely wise matters such as these - and especially in those such as concern living beings. These elements end up being employed in hundreds of thousands of wise, conscious and multifarious services and works of art.

It means that this rain, mercy itself in physical form, is made in the unseen treasury of mercy of the Most Merciful (Ar-Raḥmān) and Most Compassionate (Ar-Raḥīm). And with its fall it physically interprets the verse: وَهُوَ الَّذِي يُنَزِّلُ الغَيْثَ مِنْ بَعْدِمَا قَنَطُوا وَيَنْشُرُ رَحْمَتَهُ (a)

A little bit later the travelling guest listens to the thunder and looks at the lightning, and sees:

These two extraordinary atmospheric events are not only physical interpretations of the verses يُسَبِّحُ الرَّعْدُ بِحَمْدِهِ (b) and يَكَادُ سَنَا بَرْقِهِ يَذْهَبُ بِالأَبْصَارِ (c) but also give glad tidings to those in need, of the coming of rain.

Indeed, these phenomena, with their wise, strange states, like when the sky suddenly speaks with breathtaking thunder, out of nothing. Like the dark sky being filled with an exceptionally bright light and fire, igniting the sublime, mountainous clouds, that resemble cotton, and are like a pump of hail, snow and water. Like a gavel, they hit the heedless man’s head [and remind him], ‘Lift your head! Look at the wondrous endeavours of the Active and Mighty Essence, who wishes to make Himself known. Just as you are not left to your own devices, so too these happenings cannot be futile. Every one of them is conscripted for tasks of great wisdom, and every one of them reminds that they are wielded by a Wise Disposer of Affairs (Al-Mudabbiru’l-Ḥakīm).

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a And it is He who sends down the rain after they had despaired and spreads His mercy. (Qur’ān: ash-Shūrā, 42:28)

b 'The thunder glorifies His praise' (Qur’ān: ar-Ra‘d, 13:13)

c 'The flare of His lightning well-nigh takes away their sight.' (Qur’ān: an-Nūr, 24:43) 

This inquisitive traveller listens to this elevated and manifest testimony of the reality composed of the subjugation of the clouds in this atmosphere, the turning about of the winds, the sending down of rain, and the direction of atmospheric events, and says آمنت بالله I believe in Allāh’.

The passage in ‘The Second Level’ of ‘The First Station’ conveys the traveller’s foregoing observations about the weather:

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ الوَاجِبُ الوُجُودِ الَّذِي دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُودِهِ الجَوُّ بِجَمِيعِ مَا

فِيهِ بِشَهَادَةِ عَظَمَةِ إِحَاطَةِ حَقِيقَةِ التَّسْخِيرِ وَالتَّصْرِيفِ وَالتَّنْزِيلِ

الوَاسِعَةِ المُكَمَّلَةِ بِالمُشَاهَدَةِ

There is no god but Allāh, the Necessary Being. The sky demonstrates the necessity of His existence, with all that it contains, by the testimony of the sublimity of the all-encompassing reality of subjugation, change, and sending-down, that are witnessed as being both of vast reach, and perfected.

Notice: I would have loved to have given some sort of explanation of the thirty-three levels of Unity (tawḥīd) mentioned in the first station. However, my present situation and condition does not allow for that, and so I have been forced to be content with explaining only very abridged versions of the manifest proofs, and no more. For some of these thirty-three levels have been clarified, along with their proofs, in varying ways in thirty if not a hundred epistles of The Book of Light. Thus have their details been entrusted to those epistles.

In the language of its state (lisānu’l-ḥāl), the globe then spoke to this contemplative traveller, who had by now become well-acquainted with contemplative travel: ‘Why are you travelling in the sky and space? Come, I will acquaint you with that which you are looking for. Look at the tasks that I carry out, and read my pages!’ it said.

The traveller looked, and saw that through its two movements, the earth traces out a circle, like an ecstatic whirling dervish, around the field of the Greatest Gathering, that causes the days, years, and seasons to come into being. He saw that it is a submissive, sublime ship of the Divine, that comprises of a hundred thousand types of living creatures to the particular provisions and necessities suited to them. It travels with them in the sea of space, in perfect balance and order, journeying around the sun.

He looks now to its pages, and sees that every single page of every one of its chapters makes known the Lord of the earth through the thousands of signs inherent in it. Because he has not sufficient time to read all of them, he looks and witnesses instead at a single page, that of the creation and direction of living creatures in the season of spring.

On this page he sees forms of endless individual members of a hundred-thousand species, being opened and disclosed from a simple substance, in a most harmonious manner. They are nurtured with surpassing mercy. Some of their seeds are given utterly miraculous little wings, and are thus spread through their flying to and fro. They are managed in a most excellent way, given provisions and fed with the utmost tenderness.

Their provisions, endless, varied, delicious and sweet, are grown with perfect mercy and in abundance from dry earth, as well as from apparent nothingness; from near identical bone-like roots, fruit kernels, and droplets of water. Every spring is like the coach of a train. From the unseen treasury, it is loaded, in a perfectly orderly way, with one-hundred thousand varieties of food and necessities that are sent to living beings.

Amongst the containers of provision, the receptacles of milk sent to the young are most particularly seen - the sending of little pumps of delicious sweet milk bound to the tender bosoms of mothers.

Tenderness, mercy and wisdom are seen in all this to a degree that clearly proves that this is one of the manifestations of mercy of the Merciful (Ar-Raḥmān), the Compassionate (Ar-Raḥīm), as well as His beneficence, in His surpassing tenderness, and in His training and instruction.

The upshot: This life-page of spring gives a surpassingly clear, concrete explanation of the Qur’ānic verse فَانْظُرْ إِلىَ آثَارِ رَحْمَتِ اللهِ كَيْفَ يُحْيِي الأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا إِنَّ ذَلِكَ لَمُحْيِي المَوْتَى وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ (a) in its revealing a thousand exemplars and examples of the Greatest Resurrection, this verse also miraculously conveys the meanings of this page of spring. The traveller understood that the globe, to an extent corresponding to its size and power, says لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُو (Lā ilāha illā hū) ‘There is no god but Him’, through every one of its pages.

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a Look to the effects of Allāh’s Mercy, how He brings the earth to life after its death. That certainly is the Raiser of the dead, and He is capable of doing all things (Qur’ān: ar-Rūm, 30:50) 

In ‘The Third Level’ of ‘The First Station’, within an abridged testimony of a single of the twenty aspects of only one of the great pages of the globe which contains more than twenty pages, the following was mentioned, according to the meaning of the observations of that traveller, in order to express those observations:

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ الوَاجِبُ الوُجُودِ الَّذِي دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُوبِ وُجُودِهِ فِي وَحْدَتِهِ الأَرْضُ

بِجَمِيعِ مَا فِيهَا وماَعَلَيْهَا بِشَهَادَةِ عَظَمَةِ إِحَاطَةِ حَقِيقَةِ التَّسْخِيرِ وَالتَّدْبِيرِ

وَالفَتَّاحِيَّةِ وَتَوْزِيعِ البُذُورِ وَالمُحَافَظَةِ وَالإِدَارَةِ وَالإِعَاشَةِ لِجَمِيعِ ذَوِي

الحَيَاةِ وَالرَّحْمَانِيَّةِ وَالرَّحِيمِيَّةِ العَامَّةِ الشَّامِلَةِ المُكَمَّلَةِ بِالمُشَاهَدَةِ

There is no god but Allāh, the Necessary Being. The earth, along with all that is in it and on it, demonstrates the necessity of His unitary existence, by the testimony of the sublimity of the all-encompassing reality of subjugation, direction, and opening, and the distribution of seeds, protection and organisation, and His giving sustenance to all living creatures, of the quality of being merciful and compassionate, that is witnesses as being universal, all-inclusive, and perfected.

Then, every time the contemplative traveller read one of the pages, strengthened was his faith - the key to happiness. Expanded was his knowledge - the key to spiritual ascension. Unveiled was a new level of the reality of faith in Allāh (al-īmānu billāh), the foundation and source of all perfections - and through this, every time the many further spiritual tastes and experiences were bestowed upon him, his curiosity increased very much, even though he had already listened to the masterful, conclusive lessons given by the sky, the weather and the earth. As he was repeating هل من مزيد ‘Is there no more?’, he suddenly heard the ecstatic sounds and hooroosh of the surging seas and great rivers, and their Divine remembrance (dhikr), with their melancholic and sweet voices.

In the language of their states and tongues (lisānu’l-ḥāl wa’l-qāl), they are saying ‘Look at us too, and read us too!’ So he looks and sees: the seas always vigorously surging and merging, with their propensity to pour forth and break up whatever they encounter, encompass the earth - but they do not break anything up, nor do they pour forth, and although they are made to journey at high speed with the earth, in a single year, within

a sphere the compass of which is twenty-five thousand years [at a walking speed], they do not overstep the limit onto their dry-land neighbour. Thus, they halt, proceed and are protected through the command and the strength of one who is consummately Powerful and Sublime.

He then looked into the depths of the seas and saw that besides its superlatively beautiful, decorated, well-ordered pearls, the sustenance, management, births, and deaths of thousands of species of animals proceeded in tremendously perfect order. He saw that their provisions and nourishment, that come from simple sand and bitter water, are perfect and integral, such that it becomes self-evidently proven that this all comes to pass through the direction and sustenance of the Almighty, Possessor of Majesty (Al-Qadīru Dhu’l-Jalāl), and the Compassionate, Possessor of Beauty (Ar-Raḥīmu Dhu’l-Jamāl).

This guest then looked to the rivers and saw that their benefits, tasks, tributaries, and estuaries all come to pass with wisdom and mercy. It becomes established self-evidently, then, that all streams, sources, brooks, and great rivers stem from the treasury of the mercy of the Merciful, Possessor of Majesty and Bounty (Ar-Raḥmānu Dhu’l-Jalāli wa’l-ikrām), and flow out. They are stored and used up to an extent that is out of the ordinary, as is related in the tradition ‘Surely four rivers gush forth from Paradise’. (a)

This means that, in actual fact, their gushing forth is only possible from a treasury in a spiritual paradise, and from the emanations of an inexhaustible unseen source - for these rivers flow to an extent that is beyond the capacities of apparent causes.

For example - the blessed Nile, that transformed the sandy desert of Egypt into a paradise, flows continuously from a mountain named ‘the Mountain of the Moon’ in the south, without ever being used up, quite as if it is a little sea. If its estuaries were gathered together over a period of six months in the form of a mountain, and frozen, they would be bigger than that mountain - whereas the locus and repository particular to it within that mountain is less than a sixth of its size. Its incoming water is insubstantial, for rainfall in that hot region is negligible, and the thirsty earth quickly absorbs the water - and the river is therefore unable to uphold that vast balance. That being so, the narration that betokens that it gushes forth from an unseen paradise, transcending the laws of this earth, expresses a singularly meaningful and beautiful reality.

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a Ṣaḥīḥu Muslim 1/389, Sunanu’n-Nasāī 2/225, Musnadu Aḥmad 15 / 270 

Thus did the traveller see what was merely one of the thousands of oceanic testimonies and realities of rivers and seas. He realised that by consensus all of them say لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُو (there is no god but Him) with a power proportionate to the immensity of the seas, and that the seas reveal as many witnesses to this testimony as there are creatures in the sea.

With the intention of expressing the meaning of the testimony of all of the seas and rivers, in ‘The Fourth Level’ of ‘The First Station’, the following was mentioned:

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ الوَاجِبُ الوُجُودِ الَّذِي دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُوبِ وُجُودِهِ فِي وَحْدَتِهِ جَمِيعُ

البِحَارِ وَالأَنْهَارِ بِجَمِيعِ مَا فِيهَا بِشَهَادَةِ عَظَمَةِ إِحَاطَةِ حَقِيقَةِ التَّسْخِيرِ

وَالمُحَافَظَةِ وَالاِدِّخَارِ وَالإِدَارَةِ الوَاسِعَةِ المُنْتَظمَةِ بِالمُشَاهَدَةِ

There is no god but Allāh, the Necessary Being. All of the seas and rivers, along with all that is in them, demonstrate the necessity of His unitary existence by the testimony of the sublimity of the all-encompassing realities of subjugation, protection, conservation, and direction, that are witnessed as being vast, and harmoniously ordered.

Engrossed in his contemplative journey, the mountains and deserts then called out to this traveller. ‘Read our pages too!’ they said. So he looked, and saw that the universal duties and general services of the mountains are sublime and sapient to a degree that startles the intellect. For example, through a Divine command, the mountains appear out of the earth, and they quell, through their appearance, the earth’s impulsiveness, anger and rage, that all arise from internal convulsions deep inside the earth. By way of the eruption of the mountains, and through their openings, the earth breaths. Thereby it frees itself of harmful juddering and earthquakes, and avoids disturbing the comfort of its inhabitants in the course of its duty of rotation.

Just as the masts of ships are put up in order to prevent turbulence and to preserve their balance, so too are the mountains pegs in the same way, containing treasuries for this ship of the earth - this is announced in the Qur’ān of Miraculous Exposition (Al-Qur’ānu’l-Mu‘jizu’l-Bayān) in a number of verses, such as

وَالجِبَالَ أَوْتَادًا (a) وَأَلْقَيْنَا فِيهَا رَوَاسِيَ (b) وَالجِبَالَ أَرْسَاهَا (c)

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a [Did we not make] the mountains pegs? (Qur’ān: an-Naba, 78:7)

b We have set firm mountains on it. (Qur’ān: al-Hijr, 15:19)

c [He made] the mountains firm. (Qur’ān: an-Nāzi‘āt, 79:32) 

And for example - all of the things that are present in the heart of mountains, such as types of springs, water, minerals, materials and medicines that are necessities for living creatures, have been wisely, providentially, generously and prudently conserved and set down. The traveller understood that this self-evidently proves that they are treasure-houses and repositories, and servants of the Almighty (Al-Qadīr) to whose power there is no end and the Wise (Al-Ḥakīm), to whose wisdom there is no end.

He infers, based on these immense two core functions and wisdoms of the mountains and the desert, further of their functions and wisdoms. He sees the mountains and the deserts testifying to every one of their wisdoms, and especially their prudent conservation. He hears too what the strength and stability of the mountains, and the vast extent of the deserts assert about the Divine unity of لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُو ‘there is no god but Him’ - and he says آمنت بالله Āmantu billāh - I believe in Allāh. In order to express this meaning, the following was mentioned, in ‘The Fifth Level’ of ‘The First Station’:

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ الوَاجِبُ الوُجُودِ الَّذِي دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُوبِ وُجُودِهِ جَمِيعُ الجِبَالِ

وَالصَّحَارَى بِجَمِيعِ مَا فِيهَا وَمَا عَلَيْهَا بِشَهَادَةِ عَظَمَةِ إِحَاطَةِ حَقِيقَةِ الاِدِّخَارِ

وَالإِدَارَةِ وَنَشْرِ البُذُورِ وَالمُحَافَظَةِ وَالتَّدابِيرِ الاِحْتِيَاطِيَّةِ الوَاسِعَةِ العَامَّةِ المُنْتَظِمَةِ المُكَمَّلَةِ بِالمُشَاهَدَةِ

There is no god but Allāh, the Necessary Being. All of the mountains and deserts, along with all that is in them and on them, demonstrate the necessity of His unitary existence by the testimony of the sublimity of the all-encompassing realities of conservation, direction, the dispersal of seeds, protection, measures of governance, and prudence that are witnessed as being vast, universal, orderly, and perfected.

Even as this traveller was, through contemplation, roaming in the mountains and the deserts, the world of trees and plants opened up to his thought. They called him inside, saying ‘Come! Travel in our circle too, and read our writings as well!’ He entered, and saw that they had formed a great, ornamented gathering of litanies of Lā ilāha illallāh لا إله إلا الله ‘there is no god but Allāh’ and tawhīd (Divine unity), as well as a circle of remembrance (dhikr) and gratitude to the Divine (shukr).

From the language of the states (lisānu’l-ḥāl) of each species of tree and plant, he discerned that they seemed to say لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُو (Lā ilāha illā hū) all together. For he had indeed seen three supreme universal realities, that both proved and witnessed that all fruit-giving trees and plants bear witness, glorifying, saying Lā ilāha illallāh all together, in the languages of their perfectly proportioned and eloquent leaves, and through the remarks of their ornamented, lucid flowers, as well as the words of their, harmoniously ordered and articulate fruits.

The first of the three supreme, universal realities: Just as through each plant and tree the meaning and reality of the conscious bestowal of blessings and generosity and of voluntary beneficence and graciousness are sensed in an extremely manifest form, so too do they appear, just as the light of the sun when it appears, in the aggregate of all plants and trees.

The second of the three supreme, universal realities: The meaning and reality of conscious, wise distinction and differentiation, and voluntary, compassionate depiction and ornamentation are seen as clear as day through these endless species and individuals, and this can in no way be ascribed to chance. All of this reveals that these are the effects and inscriptions of a Wise, Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘u’l-Ḥakīm).

The third of the three supreme, universal realities: It is a truth brighter than the sun that the varied styles and forms of a hundred thousand species are opened and disclosed from simple, inanimate, limited, and almost identical seeds and kernels. All of these artful creations of Allāh are limitless, different in sort and appearance, yet surpassingly balanced and consistent.

That the forms of each individual of those two hundred thousand species are opened and disclosed, with differentiation, consistency, difference, balance, vigour and wisdom, and without oversight or error. The traveller knew that there are as many pieces of evidence establishing these realities as there are flowers, fruits, leaves, and creatures of spring, and so he said الحمد لله على نعمة الإيمان ‘Praise be to Allāh for the blessing of faith’.

In order to express this meaning, the following was mentioned, in ‘The Sixth Level’ of ‘The First Station’:

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ الوَاجِبُ الوُجُودِ الَّذِي دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُوبِ وُجُودِهِ فِي وَحْدَتِهِ اِجْمَاعُ جَمِيعِ أَنْوَاعِ الأَشْجَارِ وَالنَّبَاتَاتِ المُسَبِّحَةِ النَّاطِقَةِ بِكَلِمَاتِ أَوْرَاقِهَا المَوْزُونَاتِ الفَصِيحَاتِ وَأَزْهَارِهَا المُزَيَّنَاتِ الجَزِيلاَتِ وَأَثْمَارِهَا المُنْتَظَمَةِ البَلِيغَاتِ بِشَهَادَةِ عَظَمَةِ إِحَاطَةِ حَقِيقَةِ الإِنْعَامِ وَالإكْرَامِ وَالإِحْسَانِ بِقَصْدِ وَرَحْمَةِ حَقِيقَةِ التَّمْيِيزِ وَالتَّزْيِينِ وَالتَّصْوِيرِ بِإِرَادَةٍ وَحِكْمَةٍ مَعَ قَطْعِيَّةِ دَلاَلَةِ حَقِيقَةِ فَتْحِ جَمِيعِ صُوَرِهَا المَوْزُونَاتِ المُزَيَّنَاتِ المُتَبَايِنَةِ المُتَنَوِّعَةِ غَيْرِ المَحْدُودَةِ مِنْ نَوَاتَاتٍ وَحَبَّاتٍ مُتَمَاثِلَةٍ مُتَشَابِهَةٍ مَحْصُورَةٍ مَعْدُودَةٍ

There is no god but Allāh, the Necessary Being. The consensus of

every species of glorifying tree and plant, speaking with the words of their well-proportioned, articulate leaves, of their ornamented, lucid flowers, and their consistent, eloquent fruits, demonstrate the necessity of His unitive existence by the testimony of the sublimity of the all-encompassing realities of the bestowal of blessings, generosity, conscious beneficence, the mercy of the reality of distinction, ornamentation and representation, by volition and wisdom, along with the conclusive evidence given by the reality of opening and disclosure of all of their limitless, well-proportioned, ornamented, divergent, varied forms, from almost identical, limited kernels.

As this curious world traveller on the contemplative journey, whose pleasure and enthusiasm increased through ascending, set forth from the garden of spring. After having taken a bouquet of roses of spiritual knowledge and faith of the same proportions as spring itself, he found himself at the door of the world of animals and birds.

It opened in front of his reality-descrying intellect and his knowledge-harmonising thought, and they called him in welcomingly in thousands of different voices and languages and said: “Please do come in!”

He entered then, and saw that every species, every community and every nation of all animals and birds had turned the face of the earth into an arena of Divine remembrance (dhikr) and an immense gathering of taḥlīl, saying, in perfect agreement and in the language of speech and of state, Lā ilāha illallāh, ‘there is no god but Allāh.

He saw that each one of these creatures was in itself a poem of the Divine, a word of the Glorified One, and a meaningful letter of the Merciful One (Ar-Raḥmān), describing its Artful Creator (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘), as well as thanking and praising him. It is quite as if the senses, capacities, limbs, tools, and physical systems were rhythmically balanced, metrical words, well-ordered, unique utterances.

He then saw three sublime and all-encompassing realities, that gave conclusive proof that through these words, these creatures are thanking their Creator, Who consistently and perfectly creates (AlKhallāq), and their Provider (Ar-Razzāq), and testifying to His unity (waḥdāniyyah).

The first sublime, all-encompassing reality: This is a reality that cannot, from any perspective, be ascribed to idle chance and blind forces, and unconscious nature, rather it is wise origination from nothingness (ex nihilo), and masterful creation, deliberate, [orderly] and knowing formation and production.

It is the reality of the bestowal of the spirit and the giving of life that both signify, in twenty different ways, the manifestation of knowledge, wisdom, and volition.

This reality testifies, as a dazzling conclusive proof that has as many witnesses as there are human spirits, to the necessity of the existence of the Ever-Living, the Self-Existing, along with His seven Attributes (ṣifāt), and His unity.

The second sublime, all-encompassing reality: Those limitless artful creations being distinct from one another, beautified and designed differently in visage, ornamented in shape, balanced in quantity and harmoniously ordered in forms reveal such a sublime and powerful reality that nothing but the Omnipotent (Qādiru kulli shay') and the Omniscient One (‘Ālimu kulli shay') could be the owner of this all-encompassing action that manifests thousands of miracles and wisdoms from every perspective. And there is no other conceivability and possibility.

The third sublime, all-encompassing reality: The opening and disclosure of hundreds of thousands of forms - which is a miracle of wisdom for limitless animals - from mere eggs and ova, and from droplets of water called sperm, limited and restricted, identical or differing only very slightly

- we say - the opening and disclosure of these forms in perfect order and balance, without a single mistake is a bright reality, as this reality is illuminated as many evidences and proofs as there are animals.

The traveller saw that every species of animals says لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُو ‘There is no god but Him’ all together, by the agreement of all three of these realities, and they testify to that. It is as if the earth, like a great man says, لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُو ‘There is no god but Him’ by the relation of its size, and the inhabitants of the heavens hear him. He saw this, and received a complete lesson.

In order to express this meaning, the following was mentioned, in ‘The Seventh Level’ of ‘The First Station’:

لاَ إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ الوَاجِبُ الوُجُودِ الَّذِي دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُوبِ وُجُودِهِ فِي وَحْدَتِهِ اتِّفَاقُ جَمِيعِ أَنْوَاعِ الحَيْوَانَاتِ وَالطُّيُورِ الحَامِدَاتِ الشَّاهِدَاتِ بِكَلِمَاتِ حَوَاسِّهَا وَقُوَاهَا وَحِسِّيِّاتِهَا وَلَطَائِفِهَا المَوْزُونَاتِ المُنْتَظمَةِ الفَصِيحَاتِ وَبِكَلِمَاتِ جِهَازَاتِهَا وَجَوَارِحِهَا وَأَعْضَائِهَا وَآلاَتِهَا المُكَمَّلاَتِ البَلِيغَاتِ بِشَهَادَةِ عَظَمَةِ إِحَاطَةِ حَقِيقَةِ الإِيجَادِ وَالصُّنْعِ وَالإِبْدَاعِ بِالإِرَادَةِ وَحَقِيقَةِ التَّمْيِيزِ وَالتَّزْيِينِ بِالقَصْدِ وَحَقِيقَةِ التّقْدِيرِ وَالتَّصْوِيرِ بِالحِكْمَةِ مَعَ قَطْعِيَّةِ دَلاَلَةِ حَقِيقَةِ فَتْحِ جَمِيعِ صُوَرِهَا المُنْتَظمَةِ المُتَخَالِفَةِ المُتَنَوِّعَةِ غَيْرِ المَحْصُورَةِ مِنْ بَيْضَاتٍ وَقَطَرَاتٍ مُتَمَاثِلَةٍ مُتَشَابِهَةٍ مَحْصُورَةٍ مَحْدُودَةٍ

There is no god but Allāh, the Necessary Being. The consensus of

every species of praising, testifying animals and birds, speaking with the words of their well-proportioned, articulate, ordered senses, abilities, sensitivities and subtleties, and with the words of their perfected, eloquent limbs, systems and tools, by the testimony of the sublimity of the all-encompassing realities of origination, creation by volition, conscious distinction and ornamentation, wise specification and shaping, with the conclusiveness of the evidence given by the reality of the opening and disclosure of all of their endless, varied forms, all of this from mere identical, limited, restricted eggs and droplets.

When that contemplative traveller wished, in order to progress more and more through the limitless levels of Divine knowledge (ma‘rifah), their endless tastes and countless lights, to enter into the realm of human beings, the first to invite him to their world were the prophets (‘alayhimussalām). He entered, and looked first at the phases of the past. He saw that all of the prophets and messengers, who are the most illumined and perfect of men, together remember Allāh, saying لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُو ‘there is no god but Him’.

They assert the Divine unity (tawḥīd) on the strength of limitless extraordinary, bright and certified miracles, and by inviting people to faith in Allāh. They teach them, in order to raise them up from the level of animals to the station of the angels.

He sat on his knees in this illumined school, and took part in the lesson. For in the hands of each of the teachers, who constitute the greatest, most renowned of humankind, are miracles, as signs of veracity, bestowed from the presence of the Creator of the universe. Through the message of each prophet, a great community of people and nation acknowledged and became believers. He was able to perceive how this reality - that a hundred thousand serious, truthful people had judged in favour of and given credence to by consensus and agreement - is powerful and conclusive.

He understood how the people of misguidance (ahlu’ḍ-ḍalālah) truly commit a mistake and crime of limitless evil, and deserve a limitless punishment. For they deny the reality that has been endorsed and established in a most powerful way, through their limitless miracles, by this great number of truthful reporters. He understood too that those who had given credence to them and believed them are right and they have the truth. And then, another great level of the sanctity of faith appeared to him.

Indeed, the limitless miracles from Allāh the Exalted that amount to practical confirmation of the prophets as well as the great many Heavenly blows that befell their opponents, which signified their truthfulness, and their personal perfection that signified their truth, and their authentic teachings, and the strength of their faith that testifies to their truthfulness, and their perfect seriousness, and their sacrifices, and their sacred books and scriptures existing in their hands, and the limitless number of their students who reached, by following them, the truth, perfections, and light, and who will testify that their way is sound and true, and other than all this, the consensus, of these serious reporters regarding these established matters, as well as their agreement, unanimous testimony, their congruity,

corroboration, and correspondence in verification, is a proof and power that no power in the world can stand in the way of, as is shown in the following example. All of this leaves no opportunity for doubt or wavering. Our traveller understood why believing in all of the prophets (‘alayhimussalām) is a fundamental article of faith, and that this giving of credence is a source of immense power. He experienced a spiritual emanation of faith from their lessons. In ‘The Eighth Level’ of ‘The First Station’ it has been mentioned, in the following way, that which conveys the meaning of the lesson that this traveller took:

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ الَّذِي دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُوبِ وُجُودِهِ فِي وَحْدَتِهِ إِجْمَاعُ جَمِيعِ الأَنْبِيَاءِ بِقُوَّةِ مُعْجِزَاتِهِمُ الْبَاهِرَةِ الْمُصَدِّقَةِ الْمُصَدَّقَةِ

There is no god but Allāh, the Necessary Being. The consensus of all of the prophets, by the power of their extraordinary credence-giving, attested-to miracles, demonstrates the necessity of His unitive existence.

When this seeking traveller, who had tasted a sublime pleasure from the reality of the power of faith, was returning from the gathering of the prophets (‘alayhimussalām) those religious scholars who were verificationist, independent judges, and profoundly knowledgeable, invited him to their school. These are the scholars who verified the claims of the prophets (‘alayhimussalām) with certainty and strong, conclusive proofs and it is these who are known as ‘the purified ones’ (aṣfiyā’), and ‘the truthful ones’ (ṣiddīqīn).

He entered and saw thousands of geniuses, and hundreds of thousands of exacting scholars, and the great scholars of verification, verifying the established matters of faith, foremost amongst them being the necessity of the existence and unity of Allāh - with their deep, exacting investigations, that leave no room for even a hair’s breadth of doubt.

Indeed, their unanimous strong agreement concerning the fundamental articles of faith, and the foundations of those articles, as well as their each relying upon their certain, dazzlingly conclusive proofs, despite their differing abilities and approaches, is a proof that no one can possibly doubt, except for someone with as much intelligence and understanding of all of them put together, and who is able to find as many proofs as all of theirs put together.

Otherwise, the deniers can only oppose the scholars on the basis of ignorance and willful blindness, and in those unverifiable, negative matters, through pure stubbornness, and indeed through simply closing their eyes. He who closes his eyes makes the day night for himself alone.

This traveller knew that the lights spread by these reputable, profoundly knowledgeable teachers in that vast, remarkable school, have been illuminating half of the sphere of the earth for more than a thousand years. At that moment he found spiritual strength such that if every one of the people of denial came together, they would not be able to misguide him nor shake him to a hair’s breadth.

In ‘The Ninth Level’ of ‘The First Station’ the following has been mentioned, as a short indication of the lessons learned by the traveller in that madrasa:

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ الَّذِي دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُوبِ وُجُودِهِ فِي وَحْدَتِهِ اتِّفَاقُ جَمِيعِ الأَصْفِيَاءِ بِقُوَّةِ بَرَاهِينِهِمُ الزَّاهِرَةِ الْمُحَقَّقَةِ الْمُتَّفِقَةِ

There is no god but Allāh, the Necessary Being. The agreement of all of the sincere friends, by the power of their verified, congruous, luminous conclusive proofs, demonstrates the necessity of His unitive existence.

That contemplative traveller, was greatly longing for the vision of the lights, and the spiritual experiences that were increasing rapidly as his faith intensified and became clearer, and as he ascended from the stage of the knowledge of certainty (‘ilm al-yaqīn) to that of the vision of certainty (‘ayn al-yaqīn).

As he was returning from the madrasa, thousands maybe millions of the saintly spiritual guides invited him to a lodge (tekke), that was furthermore a house of remembrance, a place of spiritual guidance, and indeed a house of hospitality as vast as the deserts brimming with spiritual emanations and lights, that were in fact expanding through this place’s annexation to a limitless number of smaller Sūfi lodges (tekkes and zāwiyas).

Those spiritual guides, who strove for the reality, reached the truth, and attained to the stage of the vision of certainty (‘ayn al-yaqīn) under the shade of the supreme way of Muḥammad and the Ascension (Mi‘rāj) of Aḥmad (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām). They invited him to their Sūfi lodges (dargāh), and

he entered. He saw that these spiritual guides, the people of mystical unveiling (kashf) and wonder-working (karāmah), all declare the necessity of the Divine existence and unity, in agreement and consensus, on the basis of their mystical unveilings (kashf), visions (mushāhadah) and wonders (karāmah), saying لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُو (There is no god but Him).

He saw with the vision of certainty how manifest and dazzling that reality is, attested to by the consensus and agreement of these astute, saintly genius people, these illumined knowers of Allāh (‘ārifūn), who exist in seventy different colours. In truth, they exist in colours as varied as the number of the Beautiful Names (Al-Asmāu’l-Ḥusnā) of Allāh, that manifest from the light of the Beginninglessly Eternal Sun (Ash-Shamsu’l-Azalī). They exist in differing colours, illuminated like the knowledge the sun has of the seven colours present in its light. [In addition to] the different true orders (ṭarīqah), and numerous sound ways (masālik), and varied and rightful spiritual methods (mashārib), that are all valid.

He saw that the consensus of the prophets as well as the agreement of the great scholars, and the harmony of the saints, as well as the overall agreement of these three groups of people is brighter than the light of the day in its implication of the sun.

In ‘The Tenth Level’ of ‘The First Station’ the following has been mentioned, as a short indication of the benefit the traveller derived from the spiritual emanations in the Sūfi lodge (tekke):

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ الَّذِي دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُوبِ وُجُودِهِ فِي وَحْدَتِهِ إِجْمَاعُ الأَوْلِيَاءِ بِكَشْفِيَّاتِهِمْ وَكَرَامَاتِهِمُ الظَّاهِرَةِ الْمُحَقَّقَةِ الْمُصَدَّقَةِ

There is no god but Allāh, the Necessary Being. The consensus of the saints, through their verified, attested-to wonders and manifest mystical unveilings, demonstrates the necessity of His unitive existence.

The traveller through this world then proclaimed that the most important and most sublime of human perfections, indeed the foundation and the source of them, is the love of Allāh (muḥabbatullāh) that springs from faith in Him (al-īmānu billāh) and knowledge of Him (ma‘rifatullāh).

He raised his head to the heavens, greatly desiring to discover new knowledge and increase the strength of his faith further and further, and he addressed his own intellect:

‘The most precious and important thing in the universe is life - and all beings in the universe are subjugated to it. Creatures endowed with spirits are, of living creatures, the most precious and important, and of creatures with spirits, the most precious and important are those with consciousness. For the sake of this preciousness, the sphere of the earth is filled and emptied in every age and in every year. This being the case, there can be no doubt that these magnificent, beautifully adorned heavens also have their own inhabitants and dwellers befitting to them, life-endowed, spirit-endowed, and consciousness-endowed. For since the days of antiquity, instances of encounters and conversations with angels have been related, and that by unanimous testimony - such as when, in the presence of the Prophet Muḥammad (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) the embodied form of Jabrā'īl (Gabriel) (‘alayhissalām) appeared to his companions. I wish then that I have also met with the inhabitants of the heavens, and found out their opinions. For the most important remarks about the Creator of the universe are theirs.’

As he was thinking this, he suddenly heard a heavenly voice. ‘Since you want to meet us and listen to the lessons we have to give, you should know that we were the very first to believe in the matters of faith and the Miraculously Clear Qur’ān (Al-Qur’ānu’l-Mu‘jizu’l-Bayān), that were both revealed, through us, to all of the prophets (‘alayhimussalām) and foremost amongst them, Muḥammad (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām). Moreover, those pure spirits from amongst us who take form and appear to people, have all testified, in perfect accord and without exception, to the necessity of the existence of the Creator of this universe, His unicity and Divine Attributes (ṣifāt). They have all given news of this congruently and concordantly’. He came to know that they say ‘The congruence and concordance of a limitless number of reports is a guide like the sun’, and the light of his faith glowed radiantly. Thus, he ascended from the earth to the heavens.

In ‘The Eleventh Level’ of ‘The First Station’ the following has been mentioned, as a short indication of the knowledge that the traveller acquired from the angels’ lessons:

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ الْوَاجِبُ الْوُجُودِ الَّذِي دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُوبِ وُجُودِهِ فِي وَحْدَتِهِ اتِّفَاقُ الْمَلاَئِكَةِ الْمُتَمَثِّلِينَ لِأَنْظَارِ النَّاسِ وَالْمُتَكَلِّمِينَ مَعَ خَوَاصِّ الْبَشَرِ بِإِخْبَارَاتِهِمُ الْمُتَطَابِقَةِ الْمُتَوَافِقَةِ

There is no god but Allāh, the Necessary Being. The agreement of the angels that take form to the vision of men, those who speak to the elite of men with their concording reports, demonstrates the necessity of His unitive existence.

Having taken his lessons from the physical and material domain in the languages of each community therein and in the languages of their states, this curious and fervent guest of the observed world now wanted, in a state of deep yearning, and passionately in love, to begin roaming in the unseen world (‘ālamu’l-ghayb) and the isthmus world (‘ālamu’l-barzakh), in order to seek for the truth, and in order to explore.

[Suddenly] in front of him, the door of the upright, illuminated intellects, and the luminous, sound hearts was opened. These exist in every community of mankind. They are the fruits of the universe, and the effective kernels of human beings, that can, despite their small size, expand spiritually to the size of the universe.

He saw that they are human isthmuses between the unseen world (‘ālamu’l-ghayb) and the observed world (‘ālamu’sh-shahādah). Because he was able to see that the relationships and dealings that these two worlds have with human beings occur within these two loci, that is, intellects and hearts, he now addressed his intellect and his heart.

‘Come you both, for the road leading to the reality is shorter from the door of your peers. We must benefit from that road, not as we learned from the languages on the other roads, but rather through our observing the descriptions that they have, and of their circumstances and colours with respect to faith.’

He began his observation, and found that the convictions of all of the rightly guided, illuminated intellects about faith (īmān) and the unity of Allāh (tawḥīd) were concordant and their opinions and established, untroubled certainties were, with respect to description and deep-rootedness, totally congruous.

This despite the fact that their capacities vary greatly, and their schools of thought are greatly divergent and separated from one another. These intellects must then have all relied upon and been connected to a single changeless truth. The roots of the intellects cannot be severed, for they have entered into a firm reality. Their common consent to faith, necessity and unity, then, are a luminous chain that can never be broken, and an illuminated window looking out onto the truth.

He saw too that the mystical unveilings and visions related to the Divine unity and the fundamental articles of faith are serenely and ecstatically congruous in every single of these sound, luminous hearts, though they are of ways (masālik) separate one from the other, and their spiritual methods (mashārib) vary. That is to say, those luminous hearts, which look onto and have reached the truth, and indeed embody it, have become an infinitesimal throne of Divine knowledge and an encompassing mirror of Eternality. They are windows opening onto the sun of the reality, and, together as a whole, constitute a great mirror, like a sea performing its role as a mirror of the sun.

Their consensus in affirming the necessity of a necessary existent, and that of unity, is a perfect guide and a supreme spiritual teacher that does not mislead, and cannot be led astray, ever. For there is absolutely no possibility and potentiality whatsoever, from any perspective, for all of these perceptive eyes to have been deceived, so continuously and in a deep-rooted fashion, by delusions or baseless ideas and qualities.

The traveller understood that even the foolish Sophists who, seeing such a conclusion to be within the sphere of possibility, use their corrupt, rotten intellects to deny this universe, would be unhappy with such a conclusion and reject it. So he said, آمنت بالله ‘I believe in Allāh’ with his intellect and with his heart.

In ‘The Thirteenth Level’ of ‘The First Station’ the following has been mentioned, as a short indication of the knowledge of faith that the traveller benefited from the rightly guided intellects and the illuminated hearts:

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ الْوَاجِبُ الْوُجُودِ الَّذِي دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُوبِ وُجُودِهِ فِي وَحْدَتِهِ إِجْمَاعُ الْعُقُولِ الْمُسْتَقِيمَةِ الْمُنَوَّرَةِ بِاعْتِقَادَاتِهَا الْمُتَوَافِقَةِ وَبِقَنَاعَاتِهَا وَبِيَقِينِيَّاتِهَا الْمُتَطَابِقَةِ مَعَ تَخَالُفِ الاِسْتِعْدَادَاتِ وَالْمَذَاهِبِ، وَكَذَا دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُوبِ وُجُودِهِ فِي وَحْدَتِهِ اتِّفَاقُ الْقُلوُبِ السَّلِيمَةِ النُّورَانِيَّةِ بِكَشْفِيَّاتِهَا الْمُتَطَابِقَةِ وَبِمُشَاهَدَاتِهَا الْمُتَوَافِقَةِ مَعَ تَبَايُنِ الْمَسَالِكِ وَالْمَشَارِبِ

There is no god but Allāh, the Necessary Being. The consensus of the upright intellects, through their congruous beliefs and their corresponding convictions and certainties despite their differing capabilities and schools of thought, demonstrates the necessity of

His unitive existence, as too does the agreement of the luminous sound hearts through their corresponding mystical unveilings, and their congruous visions despite their disparate ways (masālik) and spiritual methods (mashārib).

This traveller, who had looked upon the unseen world from nearby, and who had journeyed in the heart and the intellect, then knocked fervently and longingly upon the door of the unseen world. ‘I wonder what the unseen world will say!’ he said to himself. He bore the following thought: ‘It is intuitively obvious that, behind the veil of the unseen, someone exists who wishes to make Himself known through the incalculable number of these artful, ornamented creations in this observed, physical world. Through His endless sweet, adorned and ornamented blessings, He wishes to endear Himself. He wishes to give news of His hidden perfections through His limitless, miraculous and wondrous effects. He wants all this in a more manifest way than mere words and speaking about it - He manifests that He wants it through action. He reveals this through the language of state (lisānu’l-ḥāl). There is no doubt that He speaks with words just as He speaks through action and state, and that He makes Himself known and endears Himself. We must then come to know Him through His manifestation in the unseen world.’

He said this and then his heart entered inside. There, with the eye of his intellect, he saw that the [metaphysical] reality of revelation controls the entire unseen world at every moment, through an immensely powerful manifestation. He saw that the testimonies of Existence and Unity themselves were stronger than the testimonies of the creatures and of the universe, for they come from the presence of the Knower of the Unseen (‘Allāmu’l-Ghuyūb) through the realities of revelation and inspiration.

He does not leave His Essence, Existence and Unity to be testified to by His creatures alone. He rather speaks with a beginninglessly eternal speech befitting Him. In every place, He is present and watching, through His Knowledge and His Power. His speech is limitless. His speech makes Him known by His Attributes (ṣifāt), just as the meaning of His speech also makes Him known.

Yes, he had understood that the existence and certainty of the [metaphysical] reality of revelation is known self-evidently by the unanimous testimony of a hundred thousand prophets in the agreement of their reports concerning their receiving Divine revelation. It is [also] known through the proofs and miracles contained within the sacred books and

heavenly scriptures, that constitute the visible revelation, and the fruits of revelation. They have been given credence by the absolute majority of men, their guides and exemplars. He understood now that the [metaphysical] reality of revelation conveys and emanates five sacred realities.

The first sacred reality of revelation

التنزلات الإلهية إلى عقول البشر (a) That is, speech that is suited to the intellect of human beings and their levels of understanding constitutes a Divine descent (tanazzul). Indeed, He Who causes all of His spirit-endowed creations to speak, and knows their speech, indubitably interposes His own Speech within their speech, as a necessary entailment of His Lordship (rubūbiyyah).

The second sacred reality of revelation

The One who created the universe through limitless expenditure, and filled it with magnificent creations in order to make Himself known, causing them, in thousands of languages, to speak of His perfections, indubitably also makes Himself known through His own Speech.

The third sacred reality of revelation

Through action, He responds to the prayers and gratitude of true men. For they are the best of existing beings, they are in the greatest need, and they are most subtle, the most delicate, and in the most intense state of longing - and it is indeed part of the nature of Creatorhood to respond to them likewise with His Speech.

The fourth sacred reality of revelation

The attribute of speech is a necessary concomitant (lāzim) of the attributes of life and knowledge, and the illuminated locus of their manifestation. There is, then, no doubt that it exists in an all-encompassing and eternal manner in He who possesses All-Encompassing Knowledge, and Eternal Life.

The fifth sacred reality of revelation

There can be no doubt that He who bestowed impotence, longing, poverty, and worry about the future, as well as love and servanthood on His most beloved creatures, would apprise them of His existence through His Speaking - this is a necessary entailment of Divinity (ulūhiyyah). For they

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a 'The Divine [ontological] descent to the [level of] human intellect'. 

are, of all creation, the most lovely, the most loving, the most in worry, and the most dependent. They are destitute and impotent, and long to find their Possessor and Owner. Thus, our traveller understood that there is consensus on the heavenly revelation’s general signification of the existence and unicity (waḥdah) of the Necessary Existent (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd).

For it contains the realities of the Divine [ontological] descent, the Divine self-revelation, the Merciful encounter, the Glorified speech, and the Eternal notification. It is then indeed a most powerful proof, more powerful indeed than the proof that witnessing the beams of light coming from the sun at high noon gives, of the existence of the sun.

He then looked to the domain of inspirations (ilhāmāt). He saw that true inspiration resembles revelation and in a way is a type of Divine Speech. However there are two differences between them:

The first difference between revelation (waḥy) and inspiration (ilhām)

Revelation (waḥy) is higher than inspiration (ilhām). Most revelation takes place through the intermediary of angels, whereas most inspiration takes place without intermediary.

The sultan, for example, has at his disposal two modes of speech and of issuing commands.

The first of them is his sending his deputy to one of his governors, with all of the stateliness of the sublime sultanate and universal sovereignty. On occasion, the sultan will meet with an intermediary in order to demonstrate the sublimity of that sovereignty and the importance of the command. The decree is then issued.

The second of them is his conversing with a personal assistant with whom he has a special relationship or a particular attachment, or even with one of his common subjects. He uses his personal phone, and speaks privately as himself, not using the title of sultan or speaking in the name of the universal kingship.

Thus, the Beginninglessly Eternal Sultan (As-Sulṭānu’l-Azalī) does not only speak through revelation, or the type of wide-ranging inspiration that fulfils the role of revelation, in His Name Lord of the Worlds (Rabbu’l-‘ālamīn), and with His title Creator of the Universe (Khāliqu’lkāināt). He also has a more particular form of speech, which does take place however from behind veils, according to the capacities of each of His subjects, in so far as He is the Lord (Al-Rabb) and Creator (Al-Khāliq) of each individual and of each life-endowed creature.

The second difference [between revelation and inspiration]

Revelation is shadowless, pure and solely for the elect. Inspiration, on the other hand, is shadowed, and it merges with colours. It is general, having a great many varied species, such as the inspiration of the angels, that of men, and that of animals. It sets up an occasion for the multiplication of the Divine words, so that they become like unto the droplets in the sea.

The traveller realised that this explains a particular facet of the exegesis of the Qur’ānic verse

قُلْ لَّوْ كَانَ الْبَحْرُ مِدَاداً لِكَلِمَاتِ رَبِّي لَنَفِدَ الْبَحْرُ قَبْلَ أَن تَنفَدَ كَلِمَاتُ رَبِّي (a)

He now looked to the quiddity (māhiyyah) of inspiration, along with its wisdom and testimony. He saw that its quiddity, wisdom and outcome are made up of four lights.

The first of the lights of the quiddity of inspiration

He endears Himself to His creation through action, in what is known as the Divine Courtship (tawaddud), and so too is His endearing Himself through words, presence, and companionship one of the necessary entailments of His Lovingness (wadūdiyyah) and Mercy (raḥmāniyyah).

The second of the lights of the quiddity of inspiration

Just as He answers the prayers of His servants through action, so too does He answer them in words, from behind the veils, a consequence of His being Compassionate (Ar-Raḥīm).

The third of the lights of the quiddity of inspiration

He responds, through action, to the supplications and cries and seeking of help of those of His creation that have encountered severe tribulations and found themselves in difficult circumstances. So too is the help He gives through words of inspiration - a sort of of His Speech - a concomitant of His Lordship (rubūbiyyah).

The fourth of the lights of the quiddity of inspiration

The traveller understood that for Allāh to notify His conscious creations - those who are so very impotent, weak, poor, and needy, and longing to seek out their possessor, protector, director and preserver - through action

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a Say: If the ocean were ink for writing the words of my Lord, it would run dry before the words of my Lord were exhausted. (Qur’ān, al-Kahf, 18:109) 

of His existence, His presence, and His protection is an essential, and a necessary entailment of the Divine Pity (shafqah), and the Mercy of Lordship. Likewise necessary is His notifiying particular creatures, through the telephone of their hearts, of His Presence and Existence through true inspirations. For they constitute a type of Divine Speech, and take place in a manner particular to each creature, and according to their particular capabilities.

He then looked to the testimony of inspiration. He perceived that if the sun had consciousness and life, and if the seven colours present in its light were in fact its seven attributes, it would in certain way have a type of speech through the beams and manifestations existing in its light. In this case, one would see its likeness and its reflection in all manner of transparent objects, and its speech in each mirror and in each shimmering thing. It would be seen in pieces of glass, in foam and droplets of water, even in transparent particles, according to the capacity of each one of them. One would see its response to the needs of these things, each of their testimonies concerning the existence of the sun, that no action debars another from taking place, and that none of its speech confounds the other of its speech.

It is self-evidently clear and fully intelligible from this example that the Speech of the Eternal Sun manifests universally and all-encompassingly, just like His Knowledge and His Power manifesting according to the capacities of each thing. That indeed is the Sultan of Beginningless and Endless Eternity, Possessor of Majesty (Sulṭānu’l-Azali wa’l-Abadi Dhu’l-Jalāli wa’l-ikrām) and Creator of all beautiful, valuable existents. No question then obstructs another, and no action another, and no speech another. None confounds any other. Our traveller thus understood, with the type of knowledge of certainty that is bordering on the vision of certainty, that each and every one of these manifestations, communications, and inspirations testifies and signifies, in perfect agreement, to the Presence of the Beginninglessly Eternal Sun, and the necessity of His existence, as well as to His unity and His singularity (aḥadiyyah).

In ‘The Fifteenth Level’ of ‘The First Station’ the following has been mentioned, as a short indication of that which this anxiously pining traveller took from the lesson of Divine knowledge in the unseen world:

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ الْوَاجِبُ الْوُجُودِ الأَحَدُ الَّذِي دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُوبِ وُجُودِهِ فِي وَحْدَتِهِ إِجْمَاعُ جَمِيعِ الْوَحْيَاتِ الْحَقَّةِ الْمُتَضَمِّنَةِ لِلتَّنَزُّلاَتِ الإِلَهِيَّةِ، وَلِلْمُكَالَمَاتِ السُّبْحَانِيَّةِ، وَلِلتَّعَرُّفَاتِ الرَّبَّانِيَّةِ، وَلِلْمُقَابَلاَتِ الرَّحْمَانِيَّةِ، عِنْدَ مُنَاجَاةِ عِبَادِهِ، وَلِلإِشْعَارَاتِ الصَّمَدَانِيَّةِ لِوُجُودِهِ لِمَخْلُوقَاتِهِ، وَكَذَا دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُوبِ وُجُودِهِ فِي وَحْدَتِهِ اتِّفَاقُ الإِلْهَامَاتِ الصَّادِقَةِ الْمُتَضَمِّنَةِ لِلتَّوَدُّدَاتِ الْإِلَهِيَّةِ، وَلِلإِجَابَاتِ الرَّحْمَانِيَّةِ لِدَعَوَاتِ مَخْلوُقَاتِهِ، وَلِلإِمْدَادَاتِ الرَّبَّانِيَّةِ لِاسْتِغَاثَاتِ عِبَادِهِ، وَلِلْإِحْسَاسَاتِ السُّبْحَانِيَّةِ لِوُجُودِهِ لِمَصْنُوعَاتِهِ

There is no god but Allāh, the Necessary Being. The consensus of all of the true revelations, that contain the Divine ontological descendings, and the glorifying Speech, and the Divine Self-revelation, and the Merciful responses to the supplications of His servants, and the Eternal notification of His existence to His creatures, demonstrates the necessity of His unitive existence, as too does the concordance of the true inspirations that contain the Divine Courtship, and the Divine response to the Prayers of His creatures, and the Divine help after the cries for help of His servants, and the glorifying intimations to His creatures of His existence.

That traveller of this world then addressed his intellect:

‘In so far as I am seeking my Owner and Creator through the beings existing in this universe, there is no doubt that it is incumbent upon us, before all else, to journey together to the Age of Happiness (‘Aṣru’s-Sa‘ādah), and visit Muḥammad the Arabian (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām), the very most celebrated of these existing beings, and the most perfected, even by the assent of his enemies. He is the greatest commander, and the most renowned ruler, in speech the most sublime, his intellect the most luminous. He it is who illuminated fourteen centuries with his moral excellence and his Qur’ān. We must visit him in order to ask him about that which we seek.’

With his intellect then, he entered that age. He saw that the age had, through this Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) truly become an age of the happiness of humanity. For, with the light with which he came, he transformed in a short period of time the very most extreme of peoples with respect to illiteracy and bedouinism, into teachers and rulers of the entire world. He now began the inquiry, saying to his intellect ‘Before anything else, we must know

the station and stature of this exceptional Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām), extraordinary and incomparable as he is, and something of the soundness of his sayings and the truthfulness of his reports - and then we shall ask him of our Creator’.

[The Nine Universal Proofs of the Truthfulness of

the Prophet Muḥammad (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām)]

We will now briefly indicate just ‘Nine Universal Proofs’ of the limitless conclusive proofs that he found.

The first of the nine universal proofs is the existence in this Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām), even by the assent of his enemies, of every beautiful characteristic and praiseworthy quality. It is the appearance of hundreds of miracles at his hands, that have been related in conclusive fashion - and a portion of them by unanimous testimony. An example of the latter is the splitting of the moon that took place by means of his indicating with his finger. This is explicitly stated in the Qur’ānic verse وَانْشَقَّ القَمَرُ . (a)

The flight of an army of his enemies, after a small handful of earth that he had thrown entered the eyes of each one of them constitutes another example, one explicitly state in the verse وَمَا رَمَيْتَ إِذْ رَمَيْتَ وَلَكِنَّ اللهَ رَمَى . (b) Yet another is his watering his entire thirsty army with the water that flowed like the fountain of Kawthar from between his five fingers, until their thirst was quenched.

I have explained more than three-hundred of these miracles alongside their conclusive proofs in the extraordinary, wonder-bearing ‘Epistle of the Miracles of Aḥmad’ (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) - that is, ‘The Nineteenth Letter’. For that reason, the traveller entrusted them to that epistle, and said:

‘This Individual (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) must definitely possess the most truthful speech, who has so many astonishing miracles, and such beautiful character and spiritual perfections. Such a Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) is definitely far above stooping to deception, lying and fallacy - for indeed these are the characteristics only of those of corrupted character.’

The second of the nine universal proofs is his carrying the decree of the Owner of this universe in his hands, accepted and given credence to in every age by more than three-hundred million human beings. For indeed that decree is the Sublimely Glorious Qur’ān (Al-Qur’ānu’l-‘Aẓīmu’sh-Sha'n), 

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a 'And the moon has split' (Qur’ān, al-Qamar, 54:1)

b 'And you did not throw when you threw, but it was Allāh Who threw'. (Qur’ān, alAnfal, 8:17) 

which is a miracle from seven viewpoints. They have been explained in detail in ‘The Qur’ānic Miracles Epistle’, that is, ‘The Twenty-fifth Word’, a renowned epistle, and one of the suns of The Book of Light. Within it, the miraculousness of the Qur’ān is demonstrated, from forty perspectives, along with its being the Speech of the Creator of the Universe. Thus, the traveller entrusted them to that epistle, saying ‘there is no way that this Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) could engage in lying, for he is the interpreter and messenger of this decree which is the truth itself, and the reality itself. For this would mean transgressing against the decree, and betraying its Author.’

The third of the nine universal proofs is that that Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) appeared with [nonpareil] law and Islām, and [unparalleled] servanthood and prayer, [prominent] mission and faith. It is not even in principle possible for there to be an equal to what he came with - better than it there has never been, and never will there be.

For that law, which appeared through that Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) who was illiterate, administered fourteen centuries and a fifth of humanity with justice and truth, with its limitless precise laws. It can never be equalled.

Islām, which became manifest through the actions, sayings, and states of that illiterate Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām), has never been equalled and never will be, this in so far as it is a guide and an authority for three-hundred million people in every age, a mentor and teacher for their intellects, an enlightener and purifier of their hearts, a spiritual guide and cleanser of their lower-selves, the pivot of the mystical unveilings (kashf) of their spirits, and the treasure-trove of their spiritual ascensions.

Another dimension in which he has never been equalled, and never will be, is his ascendancy over all and outstripping of all, in all types of the worship in his religion. He was in taqwā more than anyone else and was the most god-fearing of all. He was fully observing even to the most subtle secrets of servanthood in the midst of his unbroken extraordinary spiritual exercises and in the harshest and most turbulent of circumstances. He pioneered the worship in the most perfect fashion without imitating a single soul yet in the best possible way, uniting the beginning and end. None of this has ever been matched, and it never will be.

Then, one has the way in which he describes his Lord in al-Jawshanu’l-Kabīr, which is just one of the many thousands of his prayers and

supplications - for it is one of the proofs that his mode of prayer is unparalleled. Neither the people of gnosis (ma‘rifah) nor the saints that have come and gone since that time have been able, with all of their meditations combined, to attain to such a level of gnosis, nor to such a loftiness of description. Whomsoever looks, withal, to the place at the beginning of The Epistle of Intimate Supplication (Al-Munājāt) in which a single line of the ninety-nine lines of al-Jawshanu’l-Kabīr is briefly explained, will find themselves saying ‘The Jawshan also has no parallel’.

He exhibited, in delivering the message and inviting people to the truth, a strength, steadfastness, and boldness, such that he manifested absolutely no hesitation, worry or cowardice. He challenged the entire world, and, in point of fact, could have faced it alone. He caused Islām to rule the world, despite the best efforts of his enemies, the great powers and religions, and indeed the severe hostility of his enemies from his own people, his clan, and even his own uncle. All of this surely establishes that he has never had any equal, in delivering a message nor in mission and there will be none like him.

He carried an extraordinary strength, magnificent certainty, miraculous unveiling and a supreme degree of conviction with his faith illuminating the world, so much so that, even though all ideas and beliefs, theories of philosophers, knowledge of spiritual leaders prevalent in that age were in the position of rivalry, opposition and denial against him, none [could] cause him to doubt, hesitate, cast weakness or have waswasa in his conviction, belief, reliance and assurance. Not a single idea, belief, or theory of the philosophers, nor any of the knowledge of the leading spiritual leaders of the time affected any doubt, nor any hesitation, weakness, nor any waswasa in his certainty nor in his belief, nor in his reliance, nor in his assurance. This despite their opposition and denial of that with which he came. All of the saints receive spiritual emanations from the station of his faith at all times, and most particularly the Companions, who ascended in spirituality and in the stations of faith, and are with him in the highest stations. All of this constitutes a self-evident proof that his faith is also nonpareil.

The traveller had now perceived that such a person could not possibly lie or deceive; with his incomparable law, peerless Islām, extraordinary servanthood, incomparable mode of prayer, universal mission that astonished the world, and miraculous level of faith. He perceived this, and his intellect, also, assented to it.

The fourth of the nine universal proofs

Just as the consensus of the prophets is a strong proof of the existence of Allāh and of His unity (subḥānahu wa ta‘ālā), so it is a deciding and established testimony to the truthfulness of this Personage and his message.

It is historically verifiable that all of the sacred characteristics, miracles and missions that constitute the crucial factors in the demonstration of the truthfulness of a prophet are present in this Personage in the most perfect way (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām). In so far as those prophets gave people the good news of his coming with their words, and with their books - Torah and the Gospels, the Psalms, and the other scriptures - more than twenty and the clearest portions of the foretokens of his coming (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) present in the Sacred Books can be found in ‘The Nineteenth Letter’ and [the good news of his coming] has been established [in the same epistle].

They also give credence to that Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) through the languages of their states - that is, through their prophethood and miracles, and they support him who is more advanced than any of them, and the most perfect of them in their mission and their method. Just as they indicate Divine unity through the language of speech (lisānu’l-qāl) and by consensus, so too do they testify to this Personage’s (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) veracity through the language of their states (lisānu’l-ḥāl) and through their agreement; the traveller was able to perceive that.

The fifth of the nine universal proofs

Thousands of saints attained to the truth, the reality, perfections, wonder-working, mystical unveilings (kashf), and mystical witnessings by way of the principles laid down by this Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) and through the spiritual upbringing and instruction given by him, and by obeying and following him. Thus, they indeed also testify, by consensus and agreement, to the Unity (waḥdāniyah) of Allāh and to the message of this Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) their teacher and spiritual guide.

The traveller had seen that the saints’ witnessing, by the light of sainthood, some of the matters about which the Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) had reported concerning the unseen world, and their giving credence to all of those reports by knowledge of certainty, the vision of certainty, or the truth of certainty, is a proof like the sun of the extent of the rightness and veracity of this Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) who is indeed their teacher and spiritual guide.

The sixth of the nine universal proofs

Millions of pure, exacting scholars, veracious verificationists, and genius, believing philosophers reached the very highest station of knowledge through study of the sacred realities that this Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) came with. This along with the elevated sciences that originated with him, as well as the Divine gnosis that he uncovered despite his being illiterate. They demonstrate and confirm the Divine Unity, the foundation of the mission of that Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) with its powerful conclusive proofs, and all concord in believing in it.

In exactly the same way, their witnessing [and agreeing] about the legitimacy of this greatest of teachers and that his words are true is a conclusive proof as manifest as the day of his message and his veracity. For instance, The Book of Light, in its one-hundred parts, is one example of a conclusive proof of the truthfulness of this Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām).

The seventh of the nine universal proofs

The traveller had perceived that the assent of the great community known as ‘the Family and the Companions’ - may Allāh be pleased with them - is a proof as strong as the day’s signification of the existence of the sun. For they are the most renowned of humanity after the prophets (‘alayhimussalām) for their intuitive knowledge and moral perfections. They are the most worthy of reverence, and their renown is the greatest. They are the most devoted to the religion, and the most farsighted. He perceived how very clear a proof was their unshakeable assent and faith by consensus and concordance that this Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) is the most truthful person in this world, the most exalted, and had the most right to truth and reality. This was the conclusion of their inquiry, examining and exacting research related to the thinking, the actions both internal and external, and each of the states of this Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) that were carried out with the greatest spirit of love and yearning, yet also of singularly immense exactitude and profound seriousness.

The eighth of the nine universal proofs

This universe indicates its Creator (Al-Khāliq) and Author and Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘), Who brought it into existence, and now orders and directs it. Through its shaping, preordaining and direction, He acts within it. It is quite as if it is a castle, a book, an exhibition, or indeed a promenade - a beautiful sight. In just the same way, there is no doubt that, at all times, the universe indicates and, indeed, necessarily entails the existence

of a great Caller to Allāh, who is a sincere pioneer, a verificationist teacher, and a true instructor, who knows and teaches the Divine purposes behind the creation of the universe. One who instructs in the Divine wisdoms underlying His apparently abrupt and tumultuous transformations of the universe, and brings to light the fruits of the universe’s vocational movements, proclaiming the great value of its quiddity and the perfections of the creations present within it - and one who gives expression to the meanings of that great book. The traveller had become aware that, indubitably, this universe testifies to the truthfulness of this Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) who performed these duties way better than all else. He was indeed the greatest, loyal officer of the Creator of the universe.

The ninth of the nine universal proofs

Behind the [existential] veil there is someone who wishes to display His skills through His magnificent and wise creations, and the perfections of His artistry. He wishes to make Himself known and endear Himself to His beautiful, adorned creatures. Through these limitless, enjoyable, precious blessings, He wishes that His servants thank and praise Him, and that they cause them to worship Him, in return for His Lordship (rubūbiyyah), in a way replete with grateful obligation, gratitude and utter adoration for the universal upbringing and sustenance that He has bestowed upon us, full of pity and protectorship. Indeed, even for the Divine banquets that are prepared such that they satiate and hearten those with the very finest of taste, and satisfy every type of craving. He wishes that these blessings cause them to believe, surrender, and be led by the Divinity (ulūhiyyah) that is manifesting His Divinity with measures and actions of great sublimity and awe and with astonishing, wise activity and creatorhood, like the changing of the seasons, and the rolling up of the night and the day as well as their alternation.

He wishes at every moment to manifest His justice and to verify the truth through His protection of goodness and the good doers. He wishes to manifest, at every moment, His effacement of evil and those who are evil, and His obliteration of those oppressors and liars through His heavenly blows.

There is no doubt, in any case, that the creation most beloved to He Who is hidden in the unseen would be this Noble Messenger, Muḥammad the Qurayshi (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām). He is His most sincere servant, who uncovers and

solves the talisman of the creation of the world. He it is who continually strove to perfectly serve those ends. His movement has always been in the Name of the Creator (Al-Khāliq). He it is who sought success and assistance from Him, and indeed attained that help and success.

The traveller then addressed his intellect. Since these nine realities testify to the truthfulness of this Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) there can be no doubt that he (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) is the pivot of the honour of the children of Ādam, and of the pride of this world - and that he is much deserving of being designated ‘the Glory of the World’ (fakhru’l-‘ālam) and ‘the Honour of the Children of Ādam’ (sharafu banī Ādam) (‘alayhissalām).

There is no doubt that the ascendancy over half of the world of the spiritual sultanate of The Qur’ān of Miraculous Exposition (Al-Qur’ānu’l-Mu‘jizu’l-Bayān), which is the decree of the Merciful in his hands, as well as his personal perfections and lofty qualities, indicate that the most important personality in this world is his (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām), and that the most important teaching regarding our Creator is his teaching, may the blessings of Allāh be upon him, and on his family, and peace.

Come now, and consider! The basis for all of the claims of this extraordinary Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām), and his life’s goal, was the indication and testification to the existence of the Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd), His unicity (waḥdah), and His Attributes (ṣifāt) and Names - and indeed to prove the existence of the Necessary Being, and to declare and disseminate this truth. In doing this, he relied on the strength of hundreds of incontrovertible miracles, manifest and dazzling, and upon the thousands of lofty, deep-rooted spiritual realities of his religion. Thus, that Personage (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) is the spiritual sun of this universe, and the most incandescent proof of our Creator - he is the Beloved of Allāh. Indeed, there are three great types of consensus, which neither deceive nor deceived, supporting and endorsing his testimony, and lending credence to it.

[The Three Types of Consensus Supporting

the Testimony of the Prophet Muḥammad

(‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām)]

The First Type of Consensus: This is the assent, by consensus, of the luminous group known in this world as the family of Muḥammad (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām). It is made up of thousands of the spiritual poles and the great saints of acute insight and penetrating reflection. Imām ‘Ali (raḍiallāhu anhu) for example, who said

‘my certainty of faith would not increase if the veil of the unseen was to be lifted’. Like al-Ghawthu’l-A‘ẓam [‘Abdu’l-Qādiri’l-Jīlānī] (qaddasallāhu sirrahu), who would witness, whilst still on the earth, the greatest throne, and the majesty of the corporeal manifestation of Isrāfīl (‘alayhissalām).

The Second Type of Consensus: This is the assent of that group, renowned in all the worlds, known as the ‘Companions’ concording in the strong faith that compelled them to sacrifice themselves, their wealth, their fathers, and their kinsfolk. This is the group of nomadic peoples, living in an environment of illiteracy, far from social life, and devoid of political thought - without a scripture, and living in the darkness of the age of the period in between the sending of messengers. In a very short time, this group became teachers and guides, diplomats and just rulers of the most civilized and learned nations and governments, and those with the most refined social and political life. It is this group that administered the world from the east to the west in a way that the world took pride in.

The Third Type of Consensus: This is the assent of the great group of the countless verificationist, deep-delving scholars that were brought up in his community. They constitute countless individuals, in every age. Working in different fields, they progressed ingeniously in every science. Their assent is by concordance, and its degree is that of certainty by knowledge. That is to say, the testimony of this Personage to Divine unity (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) was not an individual, particular testimony, but rather one general, universal, and unshakeable - one that the satans would never be able to come out to oppose, even were they to group together to do so.

Here in ‘The Sixteenth Level’ of ‘The First Station’ the following has been mentioned as a short indication of this lesson, that this traveller in the world and through life - journeying intellectually through the Age of Happiness (‘Aṣru’s-Sa‘ādah) - took from that luminous madrasa:

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ الوَاجِبُ الوُجُودِ الوَاحِدُ الأَحَدُ الَّذِي دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُوبِ وُجُودِهِ فِي وَحْدَتِهِ فَخْرُ العَالَمِ وَشَرَفُ نَوْعِ بَنِي آدَمَ بِعَظَمَةِ سَلْطَنَةِ قُرْآنِهِ وَحَشْمَةِ وُسْعَةِ دِينِهِ وَكَثْرَةِ كَمَالاَتِهِ وَعُلْوِيَّةِ أَخْلاَقِهِ حَتَّى بِتَصْدِيقِ أَعْدَائِهِ وَكَذَا شَهِدَ وَبَرْهَنَ بِقُوَّةِ مِئَاتِ مُعْجِزَاتِهِ الظَّاهِرَةِ البَاهِرَةِ المُصَدِّقَة المُصَدَّقَةِ وَبِقُوَّةِ

آلاَفِ مِنْ حَقَائِقِ دِينِهِ السَّاطِعَةِ القَاطِعَةِ بِإِجْمَاعِ آلِهِ ذَوِي الأَنْوَارِ وَبِاتِّفَاقِ أَصْحَابِهِ ذَوِي الأَبْصَارِ وَبِتَوَافُقِ مُحَقِّقِي أُمَّتِهِ ذَوِي البَرَاهِينِ وَالبَصَائِرِ النَّوَّارَةِ

There is no god but Allāh, the Necessary Being, the One, the Singular. The Pride of the World, and the Honour of the species of the Children of Ādam, by the sublimity of the sultanate of his Qur’ān, the beauty of the fullness of his religion, the great number of his personal perfections and the loftiness of his character, even by the assent of his enemies, demonstrates the necessity of His unitive existence. He also testified to and demonstrated this through the strength of hundreds of his manifest, dazzling miracles, giving credence and attested to, on the strength of thousands of the shining, conclusive spiritual realities of his religion, by the consensus of his enlightened Family, and the agreement of his sagacious Companions, and by the concordance of the verificationists of his nation, with their proofs and radiant insight.

This tireless, insatiable traveller, knowing that faith is the purpose of life, and the life of life in this world, addressed his heart, saying ‘Let us go back to the book identified as the Miraculously Elucidated Qur’ān, for this is the Speech and the statement of He Whom we seek. It is the most renowned, enlightened, and decisive book in this world. It challenges whomsoever, in any given age, refuses to surrender to it. Let us consult this book, so we might know what it is that it is says. Yet first, it is incumbent upon us to establish that this book is the Book of our Creator (Al-Khāliq).’ Thus, he began his investigation. Because this traveller lives in these times, he first looked to The Book of Light, which is the flashes of the miraculous inimitability of the Qur’ān.

He saw that The Book of Light, with all of its one-hundred and thirty epistles - constitutes subtle points, lights and powerful exegesis of the verses of the Qur’ān, the Criterion of truth and falsehood. He saw that no one has been able to oppose it, despite the fact that in such an atheistic, obstinate age as this, it has spread the Qur’ānic realities to every place, and in the spirit of sacred struggle and valour. This proves that its teacher, source, authority and sun is the Qur’ān and that is heavenly. It is not the speech of men. In ‘The Twenty-fifth Word’, and the conclusion of ‘The Nineteenth Letter’, constituting just one of the hundreds of proofs contained within The Book of Light, have proved that the Qur’ān is miraculously inimitable

in forty senses, such that no one who sees it is able to find fault with it, nor to oppose it. Rather, they come to admire its proofs. They appreciate and praise it enormously.

The demonstration of the nature of the miraculousness of the Qur’ān, and its true status as the Word of Allāh (kalāmullāh), the traveller entrusted to The Book of Light. Yet he still looked closely at ‘A Few Points’ indicating the sublime nature of the Qur’ān in a concise manner.

[Six Concise Indications of the Sublimity of the Qur’ān]

The first point: Just as the Qur’ān is a miracle of Muḥammad (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) with all its miracles and spiritual realities indicating its truth, so too is Muḥammad (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) with all of his miracles, proofs of prophethood and sciential perfections, a miracle of the Qur’ān, and a conclusive proof that it is the Speech of Allāh.

The second point: The Qur’ān caused a revolution in this world - in the selves, moreover the hearts, moreover the spirits, moreover the intellects of people, and moreover within their personal lives, moreover their social lives, and moreover their political lives. It directed this revolution and made it lasting. Its six-thousand, six hundred and sixty-six verses have been recited at every minute for fourteen centuries, in perfect reverence and in the languages of at least more than one-hundred million people. It provides people’s spiritual training, chastens their lower-selves, and purifies their hearts. Upon spirits, it bestows mystical unveilings (kashf) and spiritual ascension. Upon intellects, it confers soundness and light, and to life it gives life, and happiness. There is no doubt then that a book like this is nonpareil; it has no peers, it is wondrous, extraordinary, and a miracle.

The third point: Since that age, and continuing right up until our own day, the Qur’ān has continued to manifest its eloquence, even depreciating the value of the famous poems known as ‘The Seven Suspended’ (al-Mu‘allaqātu’s-Sab‘ah) that were authored by renowned poets, and written in gold, suspended upon the wall of the Ka‘ba. This to the extent that the daughter of the famous poet Labīd removed her own father’s poem from the wall of the Ka‘ba saying ‘these have no value left them, against these verses.’

Moreover, when a bedouin poet heard the verse فَاصْدَعْ بِمَا تُؤْمَرُ (a) being recited, he threw himself to the ground in prostration. ‘Have you become Muslim?’ people said to him. He said ‘No, but I prostrated because of the eloquence of this verse’.

Moreover, thousands of the ingenious imāms, and expert poets, such as ‘Abdu’l-Qādiri’l-Jurjāni, as-Sakkākī, and az-Zamakhsharī, subtle masters of the science of rhetoric, have agreed by consensus that the rhetoric of the Qur’ān is beyond any human capacity and cannot be overtaken.

Moreover, since that time the Qur’ān has continually challenged the disdainful and the egotistical poets and rhetoricians, and made their blood boil, hurting their pride and inviting them to raise objections to its claims, saying ‘Either you bring a single chapter like it, or be content with destruction and humiliation in this world and the next. The obstinate poets of that time chose the long road of war in which their property and indeed their very spirits were exposed to danger - for they were unable to produce a single chapter like it. They refused the challenge, the short way, despite the Qur’ān’s proclamation of the challenge. Taking that short way was in fact impossible, as their choice proved.

There are millions of Arabic books available that have been written since that time by lovers of the Qur’ān in the spirit of yearning, in which they attempt to imitate its style. Others have been written on the initiative of its enemies in order to refute and criticise it. The books in our hands can never attain to the level of the Qur’ān, even though they have developed as the result of the accumulation of differing ideas. If even the most normal of men was to listen to it, he would indubitably say ‘This Qur’ān does not resemble any of those other books, and it is not on the same level as them. Its level is then either beneath them all, or above them all.’ No one in this world, no disbeliever, and not even a stupid person could possibly say that it is beneath all of them, in which case its rhetorical (balāgha) level must be higher than all of them.

In actual fact one of them recited the noble verse سَبَّحَ لِلهِ مَا فِي السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ (b) and said ‘I do not see the inimitable eloquence that it is claimed is contained in this verse’. ‘Return, in your imagination,’ it was said to him, ‘to that age, and listen to it there, as this traveller has done’.

_____

a 'So proclaim openly that which you have been commanded’ (Qur’ān, al-Hijr, 15:94)

b 'All that is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Allāh’ (Qur’ān, al-Hadīd, 57:1) 

He thus imagined himself there, before the revelation of the Qur’ān. He saw that all that existed in the world was in a wretched, gloomy, dull, inanimate, unconscious state - without [feeling or] purpose, in endless and boundless empty space, and in an unstable, transient world of no permanence. Yet as he listened to this verse in the language of the Qur’ān, he was suddenly able to see that this noble verse had thrown back the veil that had been over the universe and the face of the earth, and had illuminated that face.

He observed that this beginninglessly eternal (azalī) utterance, this eternal (sarmadī) decree, gives a lesson to all conscious beings standing in formation in the ranks of history, making clear that this universe is like a great mosque comprising of the entirety of creations, foremost amongst them being the heavens and the earth, in divine remembrance, glorification, and vigorous work, longingly, energetically, and in a state of deep happiness and contentment.

That man now tasted the rhetorical (balāgha) status of this verse, and drew analogous conclusions about its other verses. He understood one of the thousands of wisdom contained in the serenely fluent and peacefully harmonious rhetoric of the Qur’ān’s perpetuation of the sublimity of its perfectly revered sultanate for fourteen unbroken centuries - spread over half of the earth and a fifth of humanity.

The fourth point: The Qur’ān manifests real, genuine sweetness. For much repetition of even the sweetest of things causes boredom - yet not for the reciter of the Qur’ān. Rather, reciting it repeatedly increases its sweetness, for anyone but he whose heart and taste has become corrupted. This has been accepted by everyone since ancient times, until it has become as good as proverbial.

The Qur’ān has likewise manifested freshness, youthfulness, vigour (shabābah) and unique singularity (gharābah), having maintained its freshness to the extent that it is being revealed right now, despite the fact that it has lived for fourteen centuries, and is easily accessible to all. Every age sees [it in its youth, and every age feels] that it is as if the Qur’ān is addressing themselves in particular. Despite the fact that every group of scholars carries it with them constantly and abundantly in order to benefit from it, and follows its style of exposition, it still maintains its uniqueness (gharābah) in style and its pattern of exposition.

The fifth point: One of the wings of the Qur’ān is in the past and the other is in the future. The realities that the previous prophets agreed upon

are its root and one of its wings. The Qur’ān gives credence to the prophets and supports them, and they give credence to it, through the language of the state of congruence.

Likewise do every one of the true Sūfi paths of sainthood and all of the true sciences of Islām testify that the Qur’ān is the truth itself, and the place of union of all spiritual realities, and that it is unique, and unequalled in its all-embracingness. For they all grew up and lived under the protection of the second wing of the Qur’ān, that indicates that its blessed tree is invigorating and spiritually effulgent, and the pivot of the truth through the fruits whose lives extend through it - like the saints (awliyā') and the purified ones (aṣfiyā’) through their invigorating speech.

The sixth point: The six directions of the Qur’ān are all luminous, and indicate its veracity and authenticity. Yes, the pillars of evidence and conclusive proofs are below it. The flashes of the seal of miraculous inimitability are above it. The gifts of the felicity of the two abodes of this life and the next, which are present in its purpose, are in front of it.

The spiritual realities of the heavenly revelation, the point on which it depends, is behind it. The assent of the limitless number of proofs of the harmonious intellects are on its right. The earnest confidence of sound hearts and clean consciences, their sincere spiritual pulledness, and their submission, are on its left. All of the directions prove that the Qur’ān is a heavenly stronghold on earth, and that it transcends all norms, and that is totally unassailable.

There are furthermore six stations that endorse the fact that the Qur’ān is the truth itself, that is veracious, and not the word of man, and that it contains no errors.

[Six Stations Demonstrating the Veracity of the Qur’ān]

[The First Station]

Firstly, we have the fact that the Disposer of affairs in this universe has made it a customary practice and a principle of activity that He always manifests beauty into this universe, protects goodness and righteousness, and blots out those who deceive, and those who calumniate. Through His bestowal upon the Qur’ān of the most accepted and highest station of reverence and success, He confirms and endorses it.

[The Second Station]

The belief of the Most Noble Prophet is equally an endorsement of the heavenly nature of the Qur’ān, and of its being the true, blessed Speech of his Compassionate Creator (Al-Khāliqu’r-Raḥīm). For he is the source of Islām, the interpreter of the Qur’ān, and his reverence for it was greater than that of any other person. He would enter a state resembling sleep during its revelation (waḥy). His own words did not attain the level of its words, and to a certain extent did not even resemble them. He shed unseen light with the Qur’ān on real events of both the past and of the future, with perfect confidence and without any hesitation, despite his being untaught.

This interpreter never manifested any deception or error despite being under the scrutiny of extremely discerning eyes. He had a firm conviction of, and assent to, with all his strength, every one of the Qur’ān’s rulings and nothing shook him. All of this is indeed a stamp of endorsement of the heavenly nature of the Qur’ān.

[The Third Station]

Consider furthermore the commitment of a fifth of the humankind - indeed the majority of them - to this Qur’ān that they behold in front of them, in a state of being pulled spiritually and religiously. They hearken to it as followers and lovers of its spiritual truths, in a state of yearning. The jinn and the angels, and men of spirituality gather it around it like moths invoking the truth, as testified to by many signs, events and mystical unveilings (kashf). All of this puts a seal on the fact that the Qur’ān is pleasing to all created beings, and that it has the very loftiest of stations.

[The Fourth Station]

Furthermore, one has the fact that every single stratum of humanity takes its full share from the instruction of the Qur’ān - from the stupidest to the most intelligent of them, and from the most ignorant to the most knowledgeable. Consider their understanding through it the deepest of spiritual realities, and each group’s deriving and inferring all of their needs and all of the answers related to their sciences from the Qur’ān - like the hundreds of the great independent formulators of the Islāmic sciences, particularly those of the Sacred Law, and indeed the subtle verificationist masters of the creed and theology. This all constitutes a stamp of the endorsement of the Qur’ān’s status as the source of truth and the treasure-trove of reality.

[The Fifth Station]

Consider the inability of the greatest Arab poets right up to today to produce a single chapter rhetorically equal to it - this being a single facet of the seven great facets of miraculousness of the Qur’ān - despite the fact that they greatly needed to be able to resist it. From the occasion of its revelation down to the present day, the famous rhetoricians and subtle scholars have been impotent in this regard. Consider the impotent silence of those who wished to attain to fame by resisting its claims with something resembling any one of its facets of miraculousness. All of this is another stamp of endorsement on the miraculousness of the Qur’ān, and the fact that it transcends human capacities.

Yes, indeed the Qur’ān can have no peer in so far as speech acquires value, sublimity and eloquence according to ‘whom said it?’, ‘for whom did he say it?’, and ‘why did he say it?’. From this regard, it is impossible to attain to the rank of the Qur’ān. The Qur’ān is the address and speech of the Lord and Creator of all of the worlds and His Speech in which there is nothing that imparts any sense of imitation or affectation in any way whatsoever.

There is no doubt that nothing like this Miraculously Elucidated Qur’ān can possibly be produced, for the one to whom it was sent came in the name of all humankind, and indeed in the name of the whole of creation. Its addressee is the most famed and renowned of all men - through the power and vastness of his faith, Islām was raised.

Allāh raised him up to the Qāb Qawsayn, and brought him back bearing the glory of the Divine Address.

The Qur’ān clarifies questions related to the attainment of happiness in the two abodes, and to the fruits of the creation of the universe, and the Divine purposes therein. It clarifies the nature of the very highest and vastest faith of this addressee - faith that comprises of all of the spiritual realities of Islām.

It reveals and turns about the entirety of the great universe as if it were no more than a map, or a watch, or a house. It explains and instructs in the nature of the phases and states brought about by its Creator. There is no doubt then that its degree of inimitability can not be reached.

[The Sixth Station]

Thousands of masterful verificationist prodigies from amongst the religious scholars established and revealed the limitless excellences, subtle details, special characteristics, secrets and sublime meanings, along with the many reports of every single type of hidden events [of the unseen] contained within the Qur’ān. They were the exegetes (mufassirīn) of the Qur’ān, some of whom wrote commentaries that run to thirty or forty volumes - and indeed up to seventy volumes. They explained all of these matters, and included the chain of narrators of each report, and the proofs supporting each issue. And particularly, the most pertinent example of this is The Book of Light’s establishing, with most conclusive proofs, in every one of its one-hundred and thirty books, an excellence and a subtle point from the Qur’ān, and most especially in ‘The Qur’ānic Miracles Epistle’ (Al-Mu‘jizātu’l-Qur’āniyya), as well as the second station of ‘The Twentieth Word, which extracts a great number of unprecedented civilisational matters, such as the train and the aeroplane.

Likewise, ‘The First Ray’, named ‘The Qur’ānic Indications’, that explains the way in which symbolic indications in certain verses refer to electricity, the eight short epistles named ‘The Eight Allusions’ (ar-Rumūzātu’th-thamāniyya), that explain that the Qur’ānic letters are ordered into an extraordinary symmetry, and contain secrets, meanings; and a short epistle that establishes the miraculousness of the last verse of Sūratu’l-Fatḥ from five perspectives, with regard to the reports of unseen matters contained therein. Like these above, every single part of The Book of Light reveals a spiritual reality of the Qur’ān, and a light from its light.

All of this is another stamp of endorsement of the fact that the Qur’ān has no equal, that it is a miracle and transcends all norms, and that it is the tongue of the unseen world within this observed world; and indeed, the Speech of the Knower of the Unseen (‘Allāmu’l-Ghuyūb). Because of the excellences and special characteristics that have been mentioned in the six points, the six directions, and the six stations, its majestic, luminous rulership, and its sublime, sacred sultanate have illuminated the face of the ages, and continually lit up the face of the earth as well, with perfect reverence, for a period of one-thousand three hundred years.

Because of these special characteristics, the Noble Qur’ān has acquired certain sacred distinctions. For example, ten rewards exist, and ten good deeds are recorded for every one of its letters, at least. It yields ten everlasting fruits. Even every letter of certain verses and chapters yields one hundred or one thousand fruits, or even more than that. What is more, the light, reward and value of each letter increases in certain blessed periods of time from ten to one hundred. Such was the understanding of this traveller through the world. He addressed his heart, saying ‘This Qur’ān, miraculously inimitable from every perspective as it is, has testified, proving by way of evidences, to the existence of the Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd), His unicity (waḥdah), and His Attributes and Names, by the consensus of its chapters, the agreement of its verses, the congruence of its secrets and lights, and the concordance of its fruits and effects. Indeed, the limitless number of testimonies of every one of the people of faith were reared by the Qur’ān’s testimony.

In ‘The Seventeenth Level’ of ‘The First Station’ the following has been mentioned, as a short indication of what this traveller took from the lesson given by the Qur’ān in faith and Divine unity:

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ الوَاجِبُ الوُجُودِ الوَاحِدُ الأَحَدُ الَّذِي دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُوبِ وُجُودِهِ فِي وَحْدَتِهِ القُرْآنُ الْمُعْجِزُ البَيَانِ الْمَقْبُولُ الْمَرْغُوبُ لِأَجْنَاسِ المَلَكِ وَالإِنْسِ وَالجَانِّ الْمَقْرُوءَةُ كُلُّ آيَاتِهِ فِي كُلِّ دَقِيقَةٍ بِكَمَالِ الاِحْتِرَامِ بِأَلْسِنَةِ مِئَاتِ الْمَلاَيِينِ مِنْ نَوْعِ الإِنْسَانِ، الدَّائِمةُ سَلْطَنَتُهُ الْقُدْسِيَّةُ عَلَى أَقْطَارِ الأَرْضِ وَالأَكْوَانِ، وَعَلَى وُجُوهِ الأَعْصَارِ وَالزَّمَانِ، وَالْجَارِيَةُ حَاكِمِيَّتُهُ الْمَعْنَوِيَّةُ النُّورَانِيَّةُ عَلَى نِصْفِ الأَرْضِ وَخُمْسِ الْبَشَرِ فِي أَرْبَعَةَ عَشْرَ عَصْرًا بِكَمَالِ الاِحْتِشَامِ، وَكَذَا شَهِدَ وَبَرْهَنَ بِإِجْمَاعِ سُوَرِهِ الْقُدْسِيَّةِ السَّمَاوِيَّةِ، وَبِاتِّفَاقِ آيَاتِهِ النُّورَانِيَّةِ الإِلَهِيَّةِ، وَبِتَوَافُقِ أَسْرَارِهِ وَأَنْوَارِهِ، وَبِتَطَابُقِ حَقَائِقِهِ وَثَمَرَاتِهِ وَآثَارِهِ بِالْمُشَاهَدَةِ وَالْعَيَانِ

There is no god but Allāh, the Necessary Being, the One, the Singular. The Qur’ān of Miraculous Exposition, sought after and well-loved by the genera of angels, men and jinn, whose every verse is read every minute in perfect reverence, with the tongues of

hundreds of millions of the species of man, the sacred sultanate of which permanently rules over the regions of the earth and the universes, and over the face of the ages and time, its luminous spiritual rulership flowing upon half of the earth and a fifth of mankind over fourteen ages in perfect sublimity. It has withal testified and demonstrated by way of the consensus of its sacred, heavenly chapters, by the agreement of its luminous, Divine verses, and through the congruity of its secrets and lights, and the concordance of its spiritual realities, fruits and effects as has been beheld and eyewitnessed, demonstrates the necessity of His unitive existence.

Our traveller, that journeyer on the road of life, now knew that faith does not cause destitute man to acquire a merely ephemeral and transient farm and home; rather it bequeaths the universe in its totality, and an everlasting kingdom equivalent to the immensity of the world. It furnishes a transient and mortal human being with the necessities of eternal life, and saves the poor man who anticipates the gallows of fate from eternal execution. It opens up the treasure of eternal happiness - the most precious of man’s assets. He now addresses his own intellect.

‘Let us now move forward! For we must look at the totality of the universe, so that we might attain to another of the endless degrees of faith. We must listen to what its totality says, thereby perfecting and illuminating the lessons that we took from its basic elements and parts.’ He looked through the far-reaching, all-encompassing binoculars that he had taken from the Qur’ān.

He saw that this universe is so meaningful, magnificent and harmoniously ordered, so that it appears to be a corporeal book of The Glorified One, and a physical Qur’ān of the Divine One (Ar-Rabb), an ornamented palace of the Eternally Besought One (Aṣ-Ṣamad), and a perfectly harmonious city of the Merciful One (Ar-Raḥmān).

Every chapter, verse and word of this book, and even each of its letters, sections, chapters, pages and lines, the continual, meaningfully [significant] erasure and confirmation of each of these, and the wise alterations and transformations that occur to them, all of these manifest most clearly and by consensus the existence of one All-Knowing, and Almighty, an Author and Artist Possessing Majesty, and a Writer Possessing Perfection, acutely aware of all things in all things, knowing all things and the connections and relationships between all things.

Through each of its basic elements, species, parts and particulars, inhabitants, contents, incomings and outgoings, and the beneficial transformations and wise renewal that it undergoes, each of them also manifests, by agreement, the existence and unity of an exalted Master and matchless Creator working with limitless power and endless wisdom. The testimony of the two sublime far-reaching realities befitting the sublimity of the universe proves the sublime testimony of the universe.

[Contingency and coming into being ex nihilo existentiation]

The First Reality

[These are] the realities of contingency (imkān) and coming into being ex nihilo (ḥudūth), which were discerned by the ingenious scholars of creed (usūlu’d-dīn) and theology (‘ilmu’l-kalām) as well as the Islāmic philosophers (ḥukamā'), and established with a limitless number of proofs. They say, ‘since this world and everything in it undergoes change and transformation, it must then be transient and existentiated ex nihilo - it cannot be beginninglessly eternal.

Since it is existentiated ex nihilo (ḥādith) there is no doubt that there is an Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘) Who brings it into existence. Since all things are evenly balanced in not having, in their own essences, any quality that brings about their own existence or nonexistence, there is no doubt that neither of them can be either necessarily existent or beginninglessly eternal.

Since the impossibility (muḥāl) and absurdity (bāṭil) of things having created one another through circular causation (dawr) or infinite regress (tasalsul) has been proven with conclusive proofs, it most definitely and without doubt entails the existence of a Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd), for Whom having a compeer (naẓīr) or an equal (mithl) is an impossibility (mumtani‘) and absurdity (muḥāl), but all that is other than Him is possible (mumkin) - and all besides Him, without exception, is His creation (makhlūq).’

Yes, the reality of coming into being ex nihilo (ḥudūth) has overwhelmed created beings. Most of it is observable to the eye, and the other dimension of it is seen by the intellect. For a world dies in front of our eyes every year in autumn, such that a hundred thousand species of plant and tiny animals die with it, each species of which has a limitless number of individual members, each of which is like a living universe unto itself.

Yet they die in such a harmonious fashion; they deposit their spring replacements in the form of kernels, seeds and little eggs on which their propagation and amassing depends, and which are miracles of Mercy and Wisdom and marvels of Power and Knowledge. These species submit the record of their actions to them, as well as the schedule of the tasks which they carry out, depositing this with the wisdom of the Preserver, Possessor of Majesty (Al-Ḥafiẓu Dhu’l-Jalāl) as a trust, and under His protection, they then die. Those decease d trees and roots, and a group of the departed animals are brought back to life in spring, quite as though they are a hundred thousand examples, samples and proofs of the Greatest Gathering. And some of them are brought to life and are resurrected, as replacements of the previous group thereof, replicas that resemble them fully.

The creatures and existents of the previous spring spread the pages of their actions and the tasks they carried out - like advertisements - and manifest a representation of the verse وَإِذَا الصُّحُفُ نُشِرَتْ . (a)

A whole world of species of plants and animals dies every autumn and every spring. A fresh, moist world then springs into existence. And within that death and coming into being ex nihilo, the passing away and coming into being ex nihilo of manifold species comes to pass in abundance and in perfect order and regularity. The world becomes as if a guest-house, in which all life-endowed creatures are being hosted - a world to which come travelling kingdoms (55) and roaming domains, which carry out their tasks, and then depart.

The necessity of the existence of the Possessor of Majesty, His limitless power, and His endless wisdom appears to the intellect self-evidently, like the sun. He existentiates and originates our living worlds, and the creations endowed with tasks befitting them, with perfect knowledge, wisdom, balance and equilibrium, regularity and order. With power, He employs them; for Lordly (Rabbānī) purposes, Divine (Ilāhī) objectives, and Gracious (Raḥmānī) services, He compassionately puts them into service. Let us then conclude this theme, entrusting further questions related to existentiation ex nihilo (ḥudūth) to The Book of Light, and to the books of the verificationist scholars (muḥaqqiqīn) of theology (kalām).

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a When the pages are spread out. (Qur’ān, at-Takwīr, 81:10)

55. That is, animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms. 

[Let us look now to] ‘contingency’; it too has encompassed and overwhelmed the universe. For we see that all things, whether universal or particular, great or small - every existent thing - from the heavens down to our earth, and from particles to planets, has been sent to the world with a particularised essence, a specific form, a differentiated individuality, particular attributes, wise qualities, and advantageous physical systems.

The fact of the matter is that the bestowal upon these essences and quiddities of their specific particularity in preference to the limitless existing possibilities is a reality emanating from the reality of contingency, that forms one of the wings of the universe’s great testimony - as are all of the other of its indications, proofs, and testimonies - moreover, their being dressed in the particular form befitting them, with its embellishments and distinguishing characteristics in preference to as many possibilities and potentialities as there are forms; and moreover, the particularisation of the individuality suited to each volatile existent thing, in preference to as many possibilities as there are members of its genus; moreover, the instilling of the particular attributes appropriate to the interests of each formless creation as it wavers in the midst of as many possibilities and potentialities as there are types and degrees of attribute; moreover, their being invested and equipped with wise attributes and physical systems that are of help to these aimless creatures, bewildered and forlorn amongst the limitless possibilities and potentialities of roads down which the particularisation of their existences could go.

Doubtless, these are all indications, proofs and testimonies to the necessity of the unitive existence of a Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd) Who specifies, causes one possibility to preponderate over another, particularises, and existentiates.

These testimonies are as numerous as the number of universal and particular possible beings, and the possibilities for the actual quiddities, individuated identities, forms and appearances, attributes, and circumstances of each being. They testify to His limitless power, His endless wisdom, and to the fact that nothing and no action whatsoever is hidden from Him. Nothing debilitates Him - and for Him, the greatest matters are as easy as the smallest. He can create the season of spring as easily as He creates a tree; and He can create a tree as easily as He creates a fruit kernel. [There is no doubt that] all of these indications, proofs, and testimonies emanate from the reality of contingency, and form one of the two wings of this universe’s great testimony.

We have abridged this very long story here, entrusting it to the other parts of The Book of Light, and especially The Twenty-second and Thirty-second Words, as well as The Twentieth and Thirty-third Letters, in which we have wholly established and clarified two wings of the universe’s testimony with its two realities.

The Second Reality that establishes the second wing of the great universal testimony emanating from the totality of the universe:

Within these constantly fluctuating, tumultuous upheavals and transformations, the reality of synergy and cooperation (ta‘āwun) is observed in creatures - a reality which is totally far beyond their capabilities - as they seek to preserve their existence and their functions, as well as their lives if they are animate beings.

There are many instances that take place through Divine subjugation and the Merciful use of the reality of synergy. Take for example the elements in their supporting life-endowed beings, and most especially the clouds in their succouring plant-life; the plants in their coming to the aid of animals, and the animals in their assisting human beings.

Consider the kawthar-like breast milk as it endeavours to nourish the young. Consider life-endowed beings’ receiving their many needs and their provision into their hands whence they had never anticipated - and which was beyond their own abilities to procure. Even food particles, as they strive to repair the body’s cells. All of this directly indicates the universal and compassionate Lordship (rubūbiyyah) of the Lord of the Worlds (Rabbu’l-‘ālamīn), Who directly operates the entire universe as if it were a palace.

Yes, there is no doubt that the beings that are in themselves inanimate, unconscious and unpitying, are driven along in their conscious and compassionate attitudes towards one another by the power, mercy and command of a Compassionate, Wise Lord Possessing Majesty (Ar-Rabbu’r-Raḥīmu’l-Ḥakīmu Dhu’l-Jalāl).

Consider the testimonies of such greatly sublime realities as the ‘universal synergy and cooperation’ (ta‘āwun) that takes place in the universe, and the ‘universal equilibration’ and ‘comprehensive preservation’ taking place with perfect regularity, starting from the planets, and ending with the organs, physical systems and atoms of life-endowed creatures.

Look at the ‘adornment’ that moves its pen within all things, starting from the adorned gilded face of the heavens and the adorned face of the earth, and ending with the beautifully embellished faces of flowers.

[Look at] the ‘arrangement’ governing all things, starting from the Milky Way and the solar system, and ending with fruits such as corn and pomegranate; and the ‘commissioning’ that gives all things their tasks, starting from the sun, the moon, the elements, and the clouds, and ending with the honeybees.

All of this indeed establishes and forms the second wing of the universe’s testimony, commensurate with the sublimity of those great realities. Since The Book of Light has established and clarified these realities, so here we will suffice ourselves with this short indication.

In ‘The Eighteenth Level’ of ‘The First Station’ the following has been mentioned, as a short indication of the lesson of faith that the traveller took from the universe:

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ الوَاجِبُ الوُجُودِ الْمُمْتَنِعُ نَظِيرُهُ الْمُمْكِنُ كُلُّ مَا سِوَاهُ الوَاحِدُ الأَحَدُ الَّذِي دَلَّ عَلَى وُجُوبِ وُجُودِهِ فِي وَحْدَتِهِ هذِهِ الكَائِنَاتُ الكِتَابُ الكَبِيرُ الْمُجَسَّمُ وَالْقُرْآنُ الْجُسْمَانِيُّ الْمُعَظَّمُ والقَصْرُ الْمُزَيَّنُ الْمُنَظَّمُ وَالْبَلَدُ الْمُحْتَشَمُ الْمُنْتَظَمُ بِإِجْمَاعِ سُوَرِهِ وَآيَاتِهِ وَكَلِمَاتِهِ وَحُرُوفِهِ وَأَبْوَابِهِ وَفُصُولِهِ وَصُحُفِهِ وَسُطُورِهِ وَاتِّفَاقِِ أَرْكَانِهِ وَأَنْوَاعِهِ وَأَجْزَائِهِ وَجُزْئِيَّاتِهِ وَسَكَنَتِهِ وَمُشْتَمِلاَتِهِ وَوَارِدَاتِهِ وَمَصَارِفِهِ بِشَهَادَةِ عَظَمَةِ إِحَاطَةِ حَقِيقَةِ الْحُدُوثِ وَالتَّغْيِيرِ وَالإِمْكَانِ بِإِجْمَاعِ جَمِيعِ عُلَمَاءِ عِلْمِ الْكَلاَمِ وَبِشَهَادَةِ حَقِيقَةِ تَبْدِيلِ صُورَتِهِ وَمُشْتَمَلاَتِهِ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالاِنْتِظَامِ وَتَجْدِيدِ حُرُوفِهِ وَكَلِمَاتِهِ بِالنِّظَامِ وَالْمِيزَانِ وَبِشَهَادَةِ عَظَمَةِ إِحَاطَةِ حَقِيقَةِ التَّعَاوُنِ وَالتَّجَاوُبِ وَالتَّسَانُدِ وَالتَّدَاخُلِ وَالْمُوَازَنَةِ وَالْمُحَافَظَةِ فِي مَوْجُودَاتِهِ بِالْمُشَاهَدَةِ وَالْعَيَانِ

There is no god but Allāh, the Necessary Being, the peer of Whom cannot possibly exist. Everything other than Him is only possible. He is the One, the Singular. By the consensus of their chapters, words, letters, sections, pages and lines, and the agreement of their pillars, species, parts, particulars, inhabitants, contents,

incomings and outgoings, these creations of the Great Corporeal Book, and the Exalted Physical Qur’ān, and the Ornamented, Orderly Palace, and the Magnificent Well-Ordered Country demonstrate the necessity of His unitive existence, by the testimony of the sublimity of the all-encompassing realities of ex nihilo existentiation, change, and contingency, by the consensus of all the scholars of theology, and by the testimony of the replacement of its forms and contents with wisdom and regularity and the orderly and balanced renewal of its letters and words by the testimony of the sublimity of the all-encompassing realities of synergy and cooperation, conformity, support, interconnection, equilibrium and preservation within his creations, all of which is eye-witnessed.

The Second Proof of Faith

The First Station of the Thirty-second Word

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ (a) لَوْ كَانَ فِيهِمَا آلِهَةٌ إِلَّا اللَّهُ لَفَسَدَتَا (b)

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ 1 وَحْدَهُ 2 لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ 3 لَهُ المُلْكُ 4 وَلَهُ الحَمْدُ 5 يُحْيِي 6 وَيُمِيتُ 7

وَهُوَ حَيٌّ لاَ يَمُوتُ 8 بِيَدِهِ الخَيْرُ 9 وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ 10 وَإِلَيْهِ المَصِيرُ 11 (c)

During a night of Ramaḍān, I once said that there is a particular level of unity (tawḥīd) and glad tidings within each of the eleven sentences of this phrase of unity (tawḥīd). Of these levels, I expounded the meaning of لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ ‘He has no partner’ alone, in a simplified form suited to the understanding of the laity - an allegorical dialogue and a hypothetical debate, and an expression of the language of states (lisānu’l-ḥāl) within the framework of the language of speech (lisānu’l-qāl).

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a In the Name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

b Had there been within the heavens and earth gods besides Allāh, they both would have been ruined. (Qur’ān: al-Anbiyā', 21:22)

c “There is no god but Allāh alone; He has no partner. His is the kingdom, and His is all praise. He brings all to life, and takes away all life, and He is Living, and cannot die. In His Hand is all good, and He has power over all things - and to Him is the return.” (For various narrations of this prophetic phrase of Divine remembrance, see Ṣaḥīḥu’l-Bukhārī 1/255, Ṣaḥīḥu Muslim 1/414, Sunanu’n-Nasāī 2/42, Sunanu’t-Tirmidhī 5/515, and Musnadu’l-Bazzār 9/438)

I am now putting this dialogue into circulation according to the wishes and requests of the valuable brothers that serve me, and of my friends in the mosque. It is as follows:

All polytheists, the people of disbelief (kufr) and misguidance (ḍalālah) like naturalists, worshippers of causes, and polytheists of all types are under the delusion of the existence of partners of Allāh. We are now postulating an individual, representing the so called partners.

That [assumed] individual wishes to be the ‘lord’ (rabb) of something of the beings existing in the world, and claims to be their true owner. First of all, this claimant meets with the particle, the smallest of existing beings. In the language of nature and tongue of philosophy, he tells it that he is its lord (rabb) and true owner (mālik). In turn, the particle tells him, in the language of reality and Divine wisdom:

‘I carry out an endless number of tasks. I enter into every individual of every created thing, and work within them. If you possess, therefore, knowledge and power that can make me better able to carry out all these tasks and furthermore - it being the case that myself and an uncountably large number of particles like myself, roam around and work together (Footnote) - if you have, then, the power (ḥukm) and capacity (iqtidār) to subjugate us and put us all to use, and in addition to all that, if you are able to be a real owner and disposer of the existing beings of which in perfect regularity I form a part - red blood cells for example - then you are entitled to claim to be my lord, and to ascribe me to other than Allāh (subḥānahu wa ta‘ālā). Otherwise, be silent!

You cannot be a lord over me let alone even being able to intervene in [even anything related to me]. This is because within our tasks and movements are such wonderful systematic order that anyone who does not have

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Footnote: Yes, just as every single ‘thing’ in motion, from the particles to the planets, displays the Divine stamp of ṣamadiyyah and unicity (waḥdah) on them, similarly by way of their movements they hold all the places they roam in and [show that these places] are under [the same system of] unicity (waḥdah). They annex these places [and demonstrate that they] too belong to their owner. Non-moving artful creations, from the plants to the fixed stars, are quite like seals of Divine unity (waḥdāniyyah), so much so that they, in the name of Divine unity, exhibit that the places they sit at are a letter by their Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘). That is to say, each plant and every fruit is a seal of Divine unity (waḥdāniyyah) and a stamp of unicity (waḥdah), so much so that they show in the name of unicity (waḥdah) that their place and residence are a letter by their Artful Maker. In short: Every single thing, with their movements, hold all things in the name of unicity (waḥdah). That is to say, the one who cannot hold all the stars could not be the Lord of a single particle.

infinite wisdom or all-encompassing knowledge cannot interfere with it. If he were to try to do so, he would ruin it. The fact of the matter is that an inanimate, impotent, blind fellow like yourself, whose two hands are in the hands of two blind things like ‘coincidence’ and ‘nature’, cannot by any means even extend his fingers.

The claimant now spoke quite like the materialists ‘Then be your own master! Why are you saying that you work for someone else’s credit?’

The particle responded to him: “If I were to have an intellect (‘aql) like the sun, and knowledge as all-encompassing as its light, power as all-embracing as its heat, and comprehensive senses like the spectrum of seven colours in its light, a face orientated towards all, an all-seeing eye, speech obeyed in every place that I go and in every being that I work on, perhaps I would think in as absurd a way as you do, and claim that I am my own master. Now get away from me! You have no business with me!”

After the representative of [supposed] partners had lost hope in the particle, he met one of the red blood cells existing in blood; through it, perhaps, he would be able to realise his goals. In the name of natural causes (asbāb) and in the language of nature and philosophy he spoke to it, saying, ‘I am your lord and owner’. In the language of reality and of Divine wisdom, the red blood cell said,

‘I am not alone. We have the same stamp, and our system is unified - we are all officials. If you are able to take possession of all others like me in the army of blood, and you have the subtle wisdom and immense power necessary to take possession of all the cells in which we roam and in which we are employed with perfect wisdom, then reveal it! Your claim will have meaning [for us if you are able to show this to us]! On the contrary, with blind power and deaf nature in their hands, idiots, like yourself, are not able to interfere with us even to the measure of an atom’s weight, let alone own us. For the order we have is so perfect that no one can rule us but One Who sees, hears and knows all things, and does whatever He wishes. [If you are not able to show us such power], then, be silent! My duty is sublime and the order so perfect that I really do not have the time to waste responding to you and your utterly confused words of this sort.’ [In this way] does it drive him away.

Then having not been able to deceive it, the claimant goes on, and runs into the tremendously little unit in the body known as a ‘cell’. He speaks to it now, in the language of philosophy and nature. ‘I have neither been able to convince the particle nor the red blood cell. Perhaps then you will be able to understand me. For you comprise of [only] a few components resembling a tiny house, and therefore I should be able to create you. Be my creation, and be my true property!’

‘Despite my being only a very little thing, the tasks that I carry out are sublime’, the cell said as a response to him, in the language of wisdom and reality. ‘Very subtle connections and relationships link me to all of the cells of the body, and to the entire body.

For example, I have profound and extraordinary tasks within the arteries and veins, and the sensory and motor nerves, and duties related to subtle faculties - such as the afferent and efferent nerves, and those of generation - and even within the imaginative faculty. Reveal it, if you have the level of strength and knowledge that would enable you to form, order and use the entire body, and all its veins, nerves and faculties, and you have such potent and penetrating strength and wisdom so comprehensive that you can dispose freely of every single bodily cell, each of which is the like of me and is my brother in design and nature.

Then, claim “I can create you”. Otherwise, get away from me! For red blood cells bring me provisions, and the white blood cells fight against the diseases that attack me, and I have duties to carry out, so do not keep me from them!

One thing like yourself, impotent, inanimate, deaf and blind, cannot possibly intervene with anything related to us in any way at all. For ours is harmonious order of surpassing precision, delicacy and perfection. If the One governing us was not Absolutely Wise (Al-Ḥakīmu’l-Muṭlaq), Absolutely Powerful (Al-Qadīru’l-Muṭlaq), and Absolutely Knowledgeable (Al-‘Alīmu’l-Muṭlaq), our harmonious order would be upset and our system corrupted.

Just as the claimant had lost hope in the cell too, he encountered the human body. (Footnote)

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Footnote: The Wise Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘ul-Ḥakīm) created the human body as if it is a surpassingly orderly city. Some of the vessels operate like a network of telegram and telephone. Some others circulate the life-giving water, blood, just like a water pipeline [contiues on the following page] 

Again, in the language of blind nature and the type of philosophy that is heedless and rebellious, he spoke to it like naturalists, saying ‘You are my property. I created you ... or [at the very least] I have a share in you.’

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[continuation of ‘Footnote’ of previous page] network [circulates water in a city]. As for the blood, two sorts of blood cells were created within it. The first type is called red blood cells and they distribute the nutrients to the body cells. They deliver sustenance to the cells just in time under a Divine law. It is pretty much like traders and food supply officers [in a city]. The second type is the white blood cells. They are smaller in number compared to the others. Their duty is to defend against diseases in the manner that a soldier does against enemies. Whenever they start to defend, they swiftly take a wondrous form with two circular movements like a Mawlawī [whirling dervish does].

Blood over all has two general duties: The first one is to repair the damage on the cells of the body, the second one is to collect the cellular wastes and to clean the body. There are two kinds of blood vessels: arteries and veins. One of them, [that is arteries], brings and distributes the pure blood and they are the tubes for delivering pure blood [from the heart to the tissues of the body]. The other one, [that is veins], are the tubes of the venous blood that collect the waste and carry it. This second one brings the blood to the lungs where the breathing occurs.

The Wise Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘ul-Ḥakīm) created two elements in the air. One being nitrogen and the other oxygen. When oxygen interacts with the blood during respiration, it attracts the opaque element carbon, which pollutes the blood, to itself like a [magnetic] amber stone. The two combine together and transform into a substance called carbonic acid which is a poisonous gas compound. This interaction both maintains the normal body temperature and purifies the blood.

For The Wise Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘ul-Ḥakīm) favoured a powerful bond between oxygen and carbon which is called “chemical attraction” (56) in the science of chemistry, these two elements combine under the Divine law when they get close to each other. It is scientifically established that heat is produced out of this combination for this combination is a sort of combustion. The wisdom of this subtle matter is as follows:

Particles of these two elements have distinct motions. At the time of the chemical compound, the particles of one element unite with the particles of the other. Thus, they start to move as one. One motion is left suspended. Before the composition, there were two movements. Now, the two particles have become one. The two particles have taken a single motion like a single particle. The other movement, under a Divine law of the Wise Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘ul-Ḥakīm), transforms into heat. The notion that “motion generates heat” is an established law.

Thus, based on this very fact, by way of the chemical compound, the normal temperature in the human body is maintained. In the meantime, as the carbon is removed from the blood, the blood becomes purer and as the air goes into the body at the time of inhaling, it both cleanses the life-giving water of the body and also kindles the fire of life. As the air goes out at the time of exhaling, it yields the fruits, that are words in the mouth, the miracles of the Divine power. فسبحان من تحير في صنعه العقول (Glory be unto Him, [Transcendent is He from any deficiency whatsoever] Whose Art never fails to bewilder the minds!) [Footnote ends here.]

56. Literal translation would be “chemical love” (Turkish: aşk-ı kimyevî). 

The human body responded to him in the language of reality and wisdom, and in the language of the state (lisānu’l-ḥāl) of its own order.

‘Show us, if you have the type of knowledge and power that really can act upon and dispose of beings like myself - the bodies of all human beings bearing the stamp of power (qudrah) and the insignia of fiṭrah (the pure receptive original nature) upon our faces! If you have the resources and rulership (ḥākimiyyah) enabling you to take possession of the treasure-houses of my provision, starting from water and air and ending up with plants and animals.

If you have the absolute power and limitless wisdom necessary to employ the subtle spiritual centres (al-laṭāifu’l-ma‘nawiyyah) vast and lofty like the spirit (rūḥ), the heart (qalb), and the intellect (‘aql) that I encase, and to lodge them with perfect wisdom in an envelope as restricted and lowly as myself, and drive them to worship Allāh, then show us! Then tell us “I created you”. Otherwise, be silent! Also my Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘) is Capable of doing all things (Qadīr), and Knows all things (‘Alīm), and Sees and Hears all things, by the testimony of the perfect ordered system that is within me, and the indications given by the stamp of unicity (waḥdah) upon my face. One as foolish and impotent as yourself is unable to meddle in His artful creation, nor would such a person be able to interfere with it even to an atom’s weight’.

The representative of those partners does not then find anything in the human body in which he could interfere, and so he goes on. He encounters the species of man, and he whispers within himself. ‘Perhaps I too may interfere in the states both physical and dispositional, of this scattered and interwoven kind, and find a place into which I may insert my hand, just as Satan interferes in their volitional and social actions. When I have found that place, I will enforce my rule upon the body and the cells of the body that dismissed me.’

Thus again he spoke, in the language of deaf nature and a philosophy heedless and lost, saying to the species of man, ‘You all appear as if in a state of great chaos - I am your lord and owner, or at the very least, I have a share in your creation.’

At this, the species of man speaks to him in the language of truth, and reality, and indeed in the language of wisdom and order:

‘If you were to have the power and wisdom to create the garment that clothes the entire earth, woven with perfect wisdom in warp and weft threats many-hued in colours radiant, made up of the thousands of species of the totality of plants and animals that resemble our species, perhaps you would be able to convincingly claim lordship (rubūbiyyah) over me. Were you to have the power to create a carpet beautifully woven with thousands of species of living creatures that is laid over the earth, and patterned in the most exquisite way; and if you have the wisdom and power to continually renew and refresh this garment and this carpet with perfect sagacity; and moreover, if you have all-encompassing power and comprehensive wisdom enabling you to act freely within this universe of which we are its seeds, and within this universe of which we are the fruits, and to send, according to wisdom’s balance, all such things as are necessities for our lives from all parts of the world; and if you have the capability that would enable you to bring the totality of our counterparts from our ancestors and our descendants into existence, all of whom bear the stamp of Power itself upon their countenances; and if you have all of that power, perhaps you may credibly claim a type of lordship (rubūbiyyah) over me.

Otherwise, be silent! Do not say, as you look to the chaos apparent in my species, “I should definitely be able to intervene with this lot”, for the order is in fact masterful and magnificent. These circumstances that you believe to be in chaos, are surely no other than perfectly ordered replication, in accordance with the Power’s book of Divine predestination. For the fact that the magnificent order within the animals and plants under our supervision is vastly inferior to that within man, shows that the chaos apparent within us is in fact a type of [Divine] composition.

Is it conceivable that the one who creatively and precisely placed a thread running through the entirety of the carpet should be other than the weaver of that carpet?

Is it conceivable that the originator of a fruit should be other than the originator of its tree?

Is it conceivable that the originator of a kernel should be other than the Creator (Al-Khāliq) of the body carrying the kernel?

Your eyes are blind, and so you do not see the miracles of Power manifest upon my face, nor the marvels of fiṭrah (the pure receptive original nature)

that exist in our quiddity (māhiyyah). If you were able to see, you would necessarily understand that my Artful Maker is He to Whom nothing is hidden, and He to Whom nothing could feign reluctance, and He for Whom nothing is difficult.

Thus for Him, [the creation and direction of] the stars is as effortless and easy as that of the particles. He brings spring into existence as easily as He does a single flower. The One Who integrated, in perfect order, an index of the great universe into my quiddity. Can one inanimate, impotent, blind and deaf like yourself insert his fingers into the works of art of the One Who brought all of this about? Be silent then!’ he said to him, ‘Get away! Turn your face away from me!’ and he drove him off.

The claimant now journeyed to the vast carpet laid out upon the face of the earth, and to the decorated, marvelously brocaded garment under which the earth is covered. ‘I am able to act upon you freely’, he said, in the name of natural causes (asbāb), and in the language of nature and philosophy. He claims ‘I am indeed your owner - or at the very least, I have a share in your creation!

‘If you have the power and artistry that would enable you to create and weave every one of as many garments and carpets that have garbed the face of the earth as there are years and centuries, then claim lordship (rubūbiyyah) over me’ then said the garment and carpet, (Footnote) in the name of truth and reality and in the language of wisdom, to that claimant.

‘Then these [garments and carpets that have garbed the face of the earth] are removed according to an orderly system, and suspended from the rope of time past. Then there are those that will newly clothe, the plans and designs for which are determined within the sphere of Divine predestination in perfect order, and suspended onto the ribbon of the future. Each of them are patterned uniquely and distinctively, with symmetry and wisdom. And if you have two spiritual hands possessing wisdom and power with which you are able to reach all the way from the creation of the earth to its destruction - in fact from beginningless eternity (azal) to endless eternity (abad); and if you have the capability and wisdom enabling you to bring every individual weft of my carpet into existence one by one,

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Footnote: But this carpet is alive and is on a constantly ordered vibration. Its brocades continuously transform in perfect wisdom and balanced order so that the manifestations of multifarious Names of its Weaver are distinctively displayed.

as well as to restore and renew it in perfect harmony and wisdom; and if you are able to create, and then hold the earth in your hand, our model, that wears us and uses us as a face veil and a garment, then claim lordship (rubūbiyyah) over me. Otherwise, get out; you have no place here.

Furthermore, the stamp of unicity (waḥdah) and insignia of singularity (aḥadiyyah) within us is such that none may possess us nor interfere with us whomsoever does not hold the entire universe within the grasp of his free disposal, and does not see, in one single moment, all things in all their modalities; who is not able to carry out an endless number of actions simultaneously, and is not present in nor observing every place, and is not transcendent above every physical location, and does not possess endless knowledge, wisdom and power.

This claimant now went off, saying ‘perhaps I will be able to fool the earth itself, and find a place within it’. He addressed the earth (Footnote1) in the name of natural causes (asbāb) and the language of nature. ‘Since you move aimlessly and recklessly, you indicate that you are without master; you could then be mine!’ The earth now said to him, in the name of truth, and in the language of reality, and in a thunderously reverberating voice,

‘Do not prattle! How could I become aimless and reckless and be without a master? Have you seen any irregularity in my clothing and any disorder in even the smallest point and the tiniest thread within my clothing? Have you considered that all this is devoid of wisdom and artistry, so you tell me “you are, without master, aimless and reckless?”

The immense sphere around which I journey in the course of my year’s travel constitutes a distance of about twenty-five thousand years. (Footnote2)

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Footnote 1: In short: The particle refers this claimant to the red blood cells, [and similarly] the red blood cells refer him to the cells. The cells recommend him to go to the human body, and the body sends him to human species. Human species transfer him to the garment of the earth which was woven with [the threads of] living species. The garment of the earth refers him to the globe, and the globe hands him over to the sun. The sun passes him on to the stars. Every one of them says: “Go away [and attempt to] take possession of the one above me, then come back to seize me if you can. If you do not defeat them, you can never own me.” Therefore, one who cannot rule all the stars cannot ask even an odd particle to obey his lordship (rubūbiyyah) in any way.

Footnote 2: If the radius of a circle is approximately one hundred and eighty million kilometres, then the circle itself covers nearly a twenty-five thousand year distance [at the average human walking speed].

With perfect balance and wisdom, there I carry out my task. If you are able to become a true master of that sphere, and you have the absolute wisdom and power to enable you to take possession of my brothers and co-officials the twelve planets, along with all of the orbits within which they journey ... if you would be able to create our leader the sun, whom we are connected and attached to by Mercy’s gravity, connecting us to it like the stones of a slingshot, and place it in its station, and direct and put it into service with perfect regularity and wisdom, then claim lordship (rubūbiyyah) over me. Otherwise, get away from me, and go to hell! I have work to do! I’m going now.

Our overwhelming and sublime order, our astonishing movements and our wise subjection all indicate that all beings in existence, from the particles to the stars and suns are obediently subjugated to our Maker. It is as if they are obedient soldiers, ready to take orders. He is the Wise, Possessor of Majesty (Al-Ḥakīmu Dhu’l-Jalāl) and the Absolute Ruler (Al-Ḥākimu’l-Muṭlaq) who arranges and embellishes the sun with the planets with the same total ease with which he arranges and embellishes a single tree with its fruits.

The claimant now journeyed to the sun, having not found a place on earth. ‘This is a vast thing’ he said in his heart, ‘perhaps within it I will find a hole from which I will be able to tear open a road, whence I may also subjugate the earth.’

Just as the Magians (majūsīs) say, in the name of polytheism (shirk) and in the language of satanic philosophy he now spoke to the sun. ‘You are your own property, and your own master! You act in whatever way you please!’ The sun, in the name of truth and in the language of reality and in the tongue of Divine wisdom, said ‘A hundred thousand times, far be it from Him, and absolutely not! I am no more than a subjugated official, a candle in the guest house of my master.

I could not be the true master of a single fly, indeed even of a single fly’s wing. For there are spiritual substances and extraordinary works of art within a fly’s body, like its eye and its ear, that I do not have in my shop, and which are beyond the sphere of my capability.’ Thus did it scold the claimant. Yet he now returned and said, in the language of philosophy,

of the pharaonic variety ‘Seeing that you are not your own master and you do not own your own body, you are a servant, then you are, in the name of natural causes (asbāb), mine, my possession’. At this, in the name of truth and reality and in the language of servanthood (‘ubūdiyyah), the sun said, ‘None may own me but He who brought lofty stars, like me, into existence, who placed them in His heavens with perfect wisdom, and turns them about with perfect sublimity, who decorated them with perfection.’

Thus the claimant spoke to himself. ‘The stars are of a surpassingly huge number. They appear scattered and dispersed, and mixed-up with one another. Perhaps I may get the better of them for the sake of my mandators.’ He entered into them and said to them, in the name of natural causes (asbāb) and for the sake of his partners, in the language of despotic philosophy, and in quite the way that a Sabean would, that is, a worshipper of the stars ‘You must be under the command of a number of different rulers, since you are in such an extreme state of scatteredness and dispersion’.

Then, representing all of the stars, one of them said ‘How foolish, simple-minded, imbecile and blind you are! For you are not able to see nor comprehend the stamp of unity (waḥdah) and the seal of singularity (aḥadiyyah) upon our faces.You do not know of our lofty systems, nor the laws governing our worshipful service (‘ubūdiyyah). You think us without order!

We are the artistry and the servants of He who is One (Wāḥid), Singular (Aḥad), Who holds the boundless heavens in the grip of His free disposal, those heavens that are our sea, the universe that is our tree, and limitless space that is our park and our path. We are luminous witnesses to the perfection of His Lordship (rubūbiyyah) like unto the lights of a fleet. And we are shining proofs declaring the sultanate of His Lordship (rubūbiyyah), and each group of us are beaming and sparkling servants that indicate the sublimity of His sultanate, in all of the way-stations in its sphere, the heavenly sphere, the lowly sphere, the worldly, and in the isthmus and the hereafter.

Yes, each of us is a miracle of the Power of the One (Wāḥid) and the Singular (Aḥad), an astounding and harmoniously balanced fruit of the tree of creation. Each of us is an illuminated proof of Divine unity (waḥdāniyyah), and for the angels a home, an aircraft and a mosque. We are a lamp and sun of the heavenly worlds, a witness of the Sultanate of Lordship (rubūbiyyah), an ornament of space, and a palace and flower within it.

We are like unto luminous fish in the sea of space, and beautiful eyes (Footnote1) within the sky.

There exists silence within peace and stillness within all of us, movement in wisdom, decoration within splendour, beauty of creation within order, and perfect artistry within balance and harmony. We proclaim to the entire universe, in limitless different languages, the unicity (waḥdah), singularity (aḥadiyyah), and eternality (ṣamadiyyah) of our Artful Creator, Possessor of Majesty (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘u Dhu’l-Jalāl), as well as the attributes of His Beauty, Majesty and Perfection (jamāl, jalāl and kamāl). We are pure, neat, obedient and subjugated servants. Despite all this, you accuse us of being in an unrestricted state of chaos and disorder, without duty, and without master. Since you do so, you, then, deserve a good smack.’

The star slapped him so much so that it was quite as if it had been stoning Satan. It cast him from above the stars down to the pits of hell. The star threw Nature (Footnote2) down to the valleys of delusion which was together with the claimant, it hurled chance into the pit of nothingness and it threw God’s so-called ‘partners’ into the darkness of logical impossibility (imtinā‘) and inconceivability (muḥāliyāt), and it threw philosophy of denial down to the lowest of the low. That star along with all of the stars are now reciting the sacred address لَوْكَانَ فِيهِمَا ءَالِهَةٌ إِلاَّ اللهُ لَفَسَدَتَا . (a)

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Footnote 1: We are [signs and] indications that contemplatively look at and view the wondrous artistic creations of Allāh (subḥānahu wa ta‘ālā) in wonderment and amusement and cause others to look at and view them. In other words, the skies seem like they watch the wonders of Divine artistry on earth with boundless eyes in deep wonderment. Just like the angels of the heavens, the stars do gaze at the earth, the gathering gallery of marvels and wonders of Allāh, and make the conscious beings look at it attentively as well. This is what it means.

Footnote 2: After a period of downfall, nature repented. It understood that its real duty was not to affect and act, rather it was to accept and to be affected. It came to know that it was a sort of a notebook of the Divine Providence but one prone to change and transform. And it was a sort of programme of the Divine Power, and a sort of creational laws of the Almighty, Possessor of Majesty (Al-Qadīru Dhu’l-Jalāl), and a type of totality of His laws. It assumed its duty of worshipful service (‘ubūdiyyah) with utmost submission recognising its powerlessness in a perfect manner. It took the name ‘Divine creation’ (al-fiṭratu’l-Ilāhiyya) and ‘artful creation of Lordship’ (aṣ-ṣan‘atu’r-Rabbāniyya).

a Had there been within the heavens and earth gods besides Allāh, they both would have been ruined. (Qur’ān: al-Anbiyā', 21:22)

The stars announced that from the fly’s wing to the candles of the heavens, there was no place - even the size of a fly’s wing - for a partner to insert his fingers.

سُبْحَانَكَ لاَ عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلاَّ مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الحْكِيمُ (a)

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ سِرَاجِ وَحْدَتِكَ فِي كَثْرَةِ مَخْلُوقَاتِكَ،

وَدَلاَّلِ وَحْدَانِيَّتِكَ فِي مَشْهَرِ كَائِنَاتِكَ، وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ (b)

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a Glory be to You! We have no knowledge, except that which you have taught us; surely you are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. (Qur’ān, al-Baqarah, 2:32)

b O Allāh! Send blessings and peace upon our Master Muḥammad, the lamp of Your unicity (waḥdah) in the midst of the multitude of Your creatures. The agent of Your unity (waḥdāniyyah) within Your creations, and upon all his family and companions.

The Third Proof of Faith

The Twenty-third Flash

The Epistle on Nature

Due to its importance, this epistle, which was [originally]

the sixteenth reminder of the Seventeenth Flash, has become

[a separate epistle called] the Twenty-third Flash. This epistle

terminates the atheistic thought derived from ‘nature’ such

that it may never again live, and disintegrates the foundation

stone of disbelief, turning it upside down.

Notice

In this reminder, just how remote from rationality is the quiddity of the approach adopted by those naturalists who deny the existence of Allāh, and how ugly and superstitious are their ways, is clarified through nine impossibilities comprising at least ninety further impossibilities. Certain steps have been omitted for the sake of conciseness, for these impossibilities have, to a certain extent, been explained in other of the epistles.

In which case, a question suddenly springs to mind; how were intelligent philosophers led to accept such obvious, self-evident superstition, and to proceed along its path? Yes; it seems that they have never truly seen the inner reality of their approach. Yet here the reality of their approach is explained, along with its necessary entailments and concomitants. I am fully prepared to explain and prove in detail to those in doubt, by way of conclusive and self-evident demonstrations, that the essence of their repellent,

distasteful, and unintelligible school of thought that has been explicated through each impossibility, is a requisite and necessary entailment of their way. (Footnote)

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ (a)

قَالَتْ رُسُلُهُمْ أَفِي اللهِ شَكٌّ فَاطِرِ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ (b)

This noble verse explains that the existence and unity of God is unequivocal to the degree of being self-evident. This is by virtue of the nature of the rhetorical interrogative; “There is no doubt about Him, nor can there be!”

Notice prior to the elucidation of this secret:

Notice: Twelve years ago, in 1338 (that is, 1922), I travelled to Ankara. There I saw that by way of plotting and intrigue, a terrible trend of atheistic thought was striving to infiltrate, poison and corrupt the dominant thinking of the people of faith, who were at that time rejoicing due to the victory of the army of Islām against Greece. I sighed, saying, ‘Alas! This viper is going to challenge the fundamental articles of faith’.

At that time, in [one of] my Arabic epistles, I wrote a proof extracted from the Wise Qur’ān (Al-Qur’ānu’l-Ḥakīm), strong enough to break the head of that atheistic trend, in the writing of which I sought spiritual assistance from the noble verse mentioned above - for it self-evidently explicates the existence and unity of Allāh. I published this epistle at the Yeni Gün Press in Ankara. Yet those with a knowledge of Arabic, and those attaching importance [to the epistle] were at that time few in number; what is more, the powerful proof - exceedingly terse and summarised - was unfortunately unable to have the tangible effect that it should have had.

Unfortunately, that atheistic thought spread and grew stronger. Because of all this, I felt forced to expound something of that proof in Turkish.

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Footnote: The cause of the composition of this epistle is the attack on the Qur’ān made through the spurious undermining of the truths of faith, with manners of the utmost presumptuousness and ultimate ugliness, by calling whatever their corrupted intellects are unable to comprehend "superstition and irrationality" and through grounding disbelief and atheism in "Nature". Now, that attack cast intense wrath into [my] heart, making me to assail these atheists with powerful and vehement blows, as well as the false schools of thought that turn away from the truth. Otherwise, the way of The Book of Light is [as a rule] speaking in a delicate, kind and soft manner.

a In the Name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

b Their messengers said, 'Can there be any doubt about Allāh, the Creator of the heavens and the earth?' (Qur’ān: Ibrāhīm, 14:10) 

Since some of the elements of the proof have been sufficiently elucidated in certain other of the epistles, it will be presented in a summarised form here. Numerous [other] proofs which are scattered throughout various epistles form a unity with these proofs to some extent, and each one of them constitutes a portion of the present epistle.

Introduction

O mankind! Know with certitude that terrible phrases are being emitted from the mouths of [certain of] the people, [mouths] whence emanates the stench of disbelief and atheism. These [phrases] are being used by the people of faith without them being aware [of their implications]. We will now explicate three important [examples] of them.

The First: أَوْجَدَتْهُ الأَسْبَابُ “Natural causes brought it into existence.” That is, it is natural causes that bring entities into existence.

The Second: تَشَكَّلَ بِنَفْسِهِ “It took on form of its own accord.” That is, entities are existentiated and come into existence, and take on their forms of their own accord.

The Third: اِقْتَضَتْهُ الطَّبِيعَةُ “Nature entailed it.” That is, it is an entirely natural affair, and ‘Nature’ necessitates it and brings it into existence.

Yet since existent beings [unequivocally] exist, their existences cannot be denied. Moreover, all beings come into existence manifesting surpassing art and wisdom, and they are clearly not beginninglessly eternal, but are brought into existence ex nihilo (out of nothing).

O atheist! You can either say that a particular existent - an animal for example - “is brought into existence by the natural causes (asbāb) of the world”, in the sense that it comes into existence by way of the confluence of causes, or you may say that “it formed itself”. Otherwise, you may say that “it comes into existence as a necessary entailment of nature” and as a result of its inherent potency; or you may say that it exists through the power of an Almighty Possessor of Majesty.

Since [logically speaking] there are no other routes than these four, it follows that if the first three routes are conclusively proven to be impossible, invalid and beyond the bounds of reason and possibility, the fourth route - that of Divine unity - becomes necessarily, self-evidently and indubitably established.

The First Route: This is the formation of all things and existence of created beings coming about by way of the confluence of the causes existing within the world. Here I will mention only three of the very many impossibilities entailed by this.

The First Impossibility: In a pharmacy are hundreds of tubes filled with multifarious substances. The preparation, from these medicines, of a living electuary was requested, and in order for this to be realised, the composition of a living antidote made up of the original substance was necessary. We entered the pharmacy, and found a great many examples of the living electuary, and the living medicine. We examined each of the electuaries. We saw that in order to make it, a particular balance of differing quantities of the chemical substances contained within each of the tubes had been taken - one or two grams of this, three or four of that, and six or seven of the other, and so on.

If the weight of a single gram was to be removed from one of them or added to it, that electuary would never become endowed with life and would lose its special attributes. We then examined the living antidote, and we found that in order to make it, a particular balance of substances from each phial had been taken, such that if an amount larger or smaller even to the weight of a particle had been taken away, the antidote would lose its special characteristics.

Although there are more than fifty tubes, [we see that] differing particular amounts of substances have been taken [making this living antidote so perfect that] it is as if separately, each amount taken has been precisely measured.

Is there any possibility and likelihood whatsoever then, [in the notion] that by way of the bottles’ tumbling down by some strange coincidence, or due to stormy weather striking, that each of the particular amounts of the substances which had been taken from those phials, no more and no less, dripped down and gathered together, thus forming the electuary?

Is there anything more superstitious, impossible, or absurd than that? If a donkey were to become doubly a donkey, and then took on the form of a human being, it would take to its heels at this, saying ‘Never will I accept this idea!’

Just as in this example, there is no doubt that every living creature is a living electuary. Every plant resembles a living antidote. Each of them is composed of a large variety of potions and very different types of chemical substances, each taken in very sensitive proportions.

Were this to be attributed to physical constituents and causes and were it to be said “all of this was brought into existence by those natural causes”, it would be as exceedingly far from reason, as impossible and as superstitious as the notion of the electuary in the pharmacy being made purely by way of the rocking about of some bottles.

The upshot: The substances necessary for life that are taken from this supreme pharmacy of the world via the scales of the predestination and determining (al-qaḍā' wa’l-qadar) of the Beginninglessly Wise, could only have come into existence through limitless wisdom, endless knowledge, and all-encompassing volition.

Thus the wretched person who claims that “these substances are the creation of blind, deaf, boundless, torrentially fluxing [physical] constituents, natures and causes”, is more imbecilic than someone who chooses to jabber senselessly like a madman. Such a person is more foolish than a drunkard when he says that this marvellous antidote came to be as a result of the rocking about of some phials and bottles, on its own accord. Yes, disbelief is a form of senseless blathering, in a state of stupidity, drunkenness, and madness.

The Second Impossibility: If things are not ascribed to the Almighty Possessor of Majesty, the One and the Singular, but are rather ascribed to natural causes, it follows logically that each of the very great number of constituents and causes of the world must interfere in the body of every single individual living creature.

This is despite the fact that the confluence of diverse, mutually antagonistic and dissimilar causes within the body of a small creature such as a fly, in perfect order, a surpassingly sensitive balance and complete congruity, is such a manifest impossibility that even someone having only as much consciousness and perception as a fly’s wing would say ‘this is impossible, it can’t be!”

Yes; the tiny body of a fly possesses interrelations with most of the fundamental physical elements and causes of the universe - indeed, it is [in

itself a kind of] summary of all of them. Were it not to be ascribed to the Beginningless Power, it would logically follow that the physical causes would have to be adjacent to its its body - and to be precise, they would have to enter into its tiny body, and indeed enter into each of the cells within its eye, which constitutes a tiny exemplar of its [entire] body.

For if a cause is physical, it logically follows that it must in some form exist adjacent to and within its effect. From this, it further follows that the fundamentals, constituents and physical natures of the world must assume a material existence within that tiny cell - that is not able even to accommodate the needle-like fingers of two flies- and work there like a master workman. Even the most foolish of the Sophists has too much shame to [take] this kind of route.

The Third Impossibility: If an existent being constitutes a unity, there is no doubt that it has its origin in one being and one hand; this on the authority of the confirmed principle that states الواحد لا يصدر إلا عن الواحد “A singular unity (lit. “One”) can only issue from the One”.

Especially if the existent being in question happens to be harmoniously ordered to exceptional perfection, and is sensitively balanced, and if its mode of life is sophisticated, [this] existent being itself self-evidently shows that it is not the product of many hands - which cause disharmony and chaos - but that it is rather issued from one single hand that is surpassingly Powerful and Wise. If the existent being is ascribed to the chaotic hands of blind and deaf natural causes, limitlessly inanimate, ignorant, invasive, unconscious and confused, the blindness and deafness of these causes increases as they become amalgamated and mingle within the endless routes down which possibilities may go. The ascription of that harmoniously ordered, finely balanced and individual existent being to those causes, then, is as far from being rationally defensible as one’s assent to a hundred logical impossibilities.

Let us leave this impossibility aside; there is no doubt that the potency of physical causes only becomes realised by way of direct interaction and contact, whereas the contact that takes place between those natural causes only occurs to the outer-forms of living creatures.

[All the while] however, we see that the inner reality of living creatures, to which the hand of physical causes neither reaches nor touches, displays mastery and wondrous creativity, subtlety and perfection of artistry ten

times greater than that of its outer forms. It is thus not possible that the diminutive amongst living creatures, nor the tiny amongst animals, should be ascribed to blind, deaf, inanimate, ignorant, brute, coarse, separate, vast and mutually antagonistic causes. Those creatures are absolutely too small to accommodate the hands and apparatuses of physical causes; indeed, their outer forms cannot even be touched by them. Yet the artistry that went into their creation is more remarkable than that of the biggest of creatures, and the particular constitutions of their creations are unique. Only someone himself totally blind and deaf could possibly make this ascription.

The Second Matter: تَشَكَّلَ بِنَفْسِهِ That is, existing beings take on their forms of their own accord. Observe, this phrase also comprises a great number of impossibilities. It is superstitious and impossible in many different ways. We will now explain three impossibilities as examples.

The First Impossibility: O obstinate denier! Your egoism has made you fatuous to the extent that you see it fit to assent to a hundred impossibilities all at once. For you exist; and you are not a simple substance; you are not inanimate, and you are not changeless. Rather, you are a very orderly machine that is constantly being renewed, like a magnificent palace undergoing constant transformations.

The particles in your body are active at all times. Your body has interrelationships with the rest of the cosmos, especially in terms of sustenance and in the preservation of its species; and it gives and take and exchanges with them. The particles active in your body work sensitively and precisely so that they do not harm those relations and do not sever that interrelationship.

Every step that they take, they do so with exceeding caution and alertness. It is as if they look towards all created beings [and observe them]. They see your interrelationships in the cosmos, and accordingly assume a position suited to them. You thus benefit through your inner and outer senses in accordance with the magnificent positioning of those particles.

Should you not accept that the particles existing in your body are tiny officials or an army of the Beginninglessly Almighty working according to His laws, or that they are the nibs of the pen of Divine predestination; that is, that each particle is like the nib of a pen, or that they are the dots inscribed by the pen of Power and that each particle is a dot, it would follow

that every particle working in your body would have to have an eye able to see every part of your body, and able to see all of the created beings to which you are connected.

[It would further follow that] an intellect as powerful as one hundred intellects of genius, able to know and recognize your entire past, future, progeny and origin, as well as the sources of your physical constituents and the origins of your sustenance would be have to be attributed [to each particle]. The ascription, then, of the knowledge and awareness of a thousand Platos to one single particle in someone like yourself, who does not possess a particle’s weight of intellect in such matters, surely constitutes a thousand degrees of lunatic superstition and irrationality.

The Second Impossibility: Your body resembles a magnificent palace of a thousand domes; the stones for each dome have been placed such that they support one another, suspended without pillars.

Indeed your body is a thousand times more astonishing than such a palace. For the palace of your body is continually renewed with perfect regularity and order. Every organ in your body - this without even considering the surpassingly marvellous spirit, heart and [the other] subtle spiritual centres - is like a domed house.

For each of its particles support one another in perfect counterbalance and harmony quite in the same way as the stones of that dome [do so], and display a marvellous building, a magnificent piece of art, and wonderful miracle of power, like the eye and the tongue.

If these particles are not in fact officials following the order of the Architect and Creator of this world, each of them must then possess absolute rule over every one of the particles existing in the body, and yet also be unrestrictedly ruled by them at the same time. Similarly, each particle must be identical to all other particles and simultaneously contrast with them in its rulership. Likewise, it must be a source and spring of most of the attributes unique to the Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd). And it must be in a [simultaneous] state of absolute restrictedness and unrestrictedness.

Apart from all this, anyone possessing a particle’s weight of consciousness will be able to perceive, through the secret of unicity, that the ascription of a masterful, wonderful creation - which cannot have come into

existence except by way of the work of the One, the Singular - to a limitless number of particles is manifestly and self-evidently impossible and in fact comprises a hundred impossibilities.

The Third Impossibility: Were your body not in fact written with the pen of the Beginninglessly Almighty, the One, the Singular, but was rather attributed to and printed by ‘Nature’ and natural causes (asbāb), it follows [logically] that Nature’s printing blocks would have to exist in quantities of thousands of composite beings ranging from a single cell to concentric circles in your body.

And now, if for example, this book in our hand is authored and “written”, then a single pen, dependent on the knowledge of the writer of the book, writes the entire book.

If it isn’t ‘written’ and is not ascribed to the pen of that writer, and it is [instead] said, “it formed itself”, or it is ascribed to ‘Nature’, then a metal ‘pen’ is necessary for every single one of its letters in order for the book to be printed, as is always the case for printed books.

Just as the printing press contains metal versions of all of the letters, through which come into existence the letters existing in the book, it logically follows from this position that rather than only one pen being necessary, there must exist as many ‘pens’ as there are letters.

Indeed, if as sometimes happens one page is inscribed with a large letter, with a small pen and in a fine script, thousands of pens are necessary [to write] a single letter.

In fact, if the letters were to shape a form in the same way that your body has been [shaped], harmoniously and by superimposing onto one another, then it follows that for each circle and each part [therein], there must be as many printing blocks as there are forms.

Let us suppose you were to say that this case that comprises of a hundred impossibilities was in fact possible. If the creation of those precise and artful metal letters, and those finely crafted printing blocks and pens was also not to be ascribed to a single pen, it again follows logically that in for those pens, printing blocks and metal letters to be made, there must be as many further pens, printing blocks and letters.

These things too are artfully created and they are themselves harmoniously ordered and masterful. In this way does the matter regress infinitely, as far as you care to follow it.

You, too, understand! This is a notion containing as many impossibilities and superstitions as there are particles in your body! O obstinate denier! Have some shame and desist from this delusion!

The Third Phrase: اقْتَضَتْهُ الطَّبِيعَةُ That is, nature entails it and nature creates it. There are scores of impossibilities involved in this judgement, of which we [will] mention three that can serve as exemplars.

The First Impossibility: If the insightful and wise artistry and existentiation manifestly evident in most existing beings, and especially living creatures, is not attributed to the Pen of the predestination and power of the Beginningless Sun, being ascribed rather to blind, deaf and unconscious ‘Nature’ and forces, it would necessarily follow that ‘Nature’ must procure the limitless number of immaterial tools and printing presses necessary for the creation of each thing; or moreover, it would have to incorporate sufficient wisdom and power into each of these things, enabling them to create and direct the cosmos.And for example, the manifestations and reflections of the sun appear upon pieces of glass on the ground, as tiny as particles and droplets of water.

Were those tiny, virtual and reflected suns not to be ascribed to the one sun in the sky, one would be forced to accept the external existence of an ordinary and actual ‘sun’ within each particle-sized piece of glass - unable even to accommodate the head of a matchstick - possessing the characteristics of the actual sun: apparently tiny but actually extremely huge and profound.

Indeed it entails accepting the existence of as many actual suns as there are particles of glass. Exactly as in this example; if existing beings and living creatures are not directly ascribed to the manifestations of the Names of the Beginningless Sun, it logically follows that one must accept the existence of a natural power within each existent, and especially within living creatures, that has limitless strength and volition, and endless knowledge and wisdom. That is, it would be as if there was a god within [each existent and each living creature.]

Yet this line of thinking is the very most severely absurd and superstitious of all impossibilities in this cosmos. The man who ascribes the artistry of the Creator of the Cosmos - that is directed [even] towards the fly - to this imaginary, trivial, unconscious ‘Nature’, surely reveals that

he is an animal one hundred times more animalistic than any other animals, and [one hundred times] less conscious.

The Second Impossibility: If these well-ordered, beautifully balanced, artistic existing beings brimming with wisdom are not ascribed to the One Who is Almighty and Wise (Al-Qadīru’l-Ḥakīm) and Whose power and wisdom have no limits, but are ascribed rather to ‘Nature’, it would necessarily follow that ‘Nature’ would have to procure, within every handful of earth, as many machines and printing presses as there are presses and factories in Europe, in order for that handful of earth to be able to constitute the cause of the scent, growth and design of the limitless number of flowers and fruits of which it constitutes the fountainhead and workshop.

For a potency that is able to design and illustrate the greatly differing forms and patterns of all flowers actually is visible [to all]; those flowers, the seeds of which are planted one by one, each into a handful of earth that fulfils the role of vase for the flowers. If it is not ascribed to the Almighty Possessor of Majesty (Al-Qadīru Dhu’l-Jalāl), immaterial and natural machines would have to exist for every flower within each vase of earth; otherwise the state we have described could not have come to pass.

For the substances of seeds just like sperms and eggs are the same; that is to say, because [every seed] is composed of a combination of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen, which is mixed without order or form and resembles a kind of dough. And moreover, because air, water, heat and light are all simple, unconscious, and in their dealings with all things overflow like torrential streams, the emergence of that limitless number of flowers from the earth - within their multifarious variegated forms and designs, evincing as they do surpassing regularity of order and artistry - necessarily and self-evidently entails that within that bowl of earth exist small-scale immaterial printing-presses and factories as numerous of those of [the whole of] Europe, in order that they be able to weave such a great number of living fabrics, and the thousands of differently embroidered textiles.

Measure thus the extent to which the thought of the naturalists, which constitutes disbelief, has deviated from the domain of logic. See just how distant these foolish drunks are from logic and science - who are in the form of human beings but assume that “Nature” is the creator - when they

claim to be specialists in science and intelligent folk. They have taken as their route an unattainable and ever-impossible superstition. See all this as you laugh and spit!

Should you say: If all existing beings are ascribed to ‘Nature’, a host of absurd impossibilities such as [those just mentioned] ensue; difficulties that are at the degree of impossibility are entailed by this position. Yet how are these difficulties eliminated if all beings are ascribed to the Independent and Eternally Besought One (Aṣ-Ṣamad)? How does this impossibility of [the greatest] difficulty thereby turn into a necessity of [the greatest] ease?

The answer: As was mentioned in the first impossibility: the manifestation of the reflections, emanations and effects of the sun appear, with the greatest ease and without burden, upon [each and every transparent, shimmering thing], from the smallest particle-like pieces of glass, to the surface of the greatest sea, such that it is as if they are themselves little virtual suns.

If these [reflections, emanations and effects’] ascription to the sun was to be severed, one would be forced to accept the possibility of the extramental existence of a natural “sun” within each particle, a notion which is of a difficulty that is at the degree of impossibility.

Yet if, as we have just said, these existent beings are to be ascribed directly to the Independent and Eternally Besought One (Aṣ-Ṣamad), every requirement can be delivered to each and every existent being with an ease of the degree of necessity, by way of affiliation and manifestation.

Yet should this affiliation be severed, and this order-taking and instruction be transformed into total unrestrained liberty and chaos, and each existent being left absolutely on its own and to the control of “Nature”, it would logically follow that one would have to presuppose a hundred thousand difficulties and hardships at the degree of impossibility: that blind nature should create the astonishing corporal-machine of a living creature the like of a fly - a corporal-machine that constitutes a little index of the entire universe - and have the wisdom and power enabling it to create and direct the universe. This, however, is not a notion involving merely a single impossibility, but thousands.

The upshot: Just as the existence of an associate and peer of the Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd) is inconceivably impossible and impossibly impossible, equally inconceivably impossible and impossibly impossible

is the notion of anything other than Him interfering in His Lordship (rubūbiyyah) and existentiation of all things.

As for the difficulties within the second impossibility which have been established within numerous epistles; if they are ascribed to the One, the Singular, [the creation and direction] of all things becomes as easy as [those of] a single thing.

It has been established through numerous and precise proofs that if they are to be ascribed to natural causes and “Nature”, [the creation and direction] of a single thing becomes as problematic as the creation of the totality of all things.

What follows is a summary of one of these proofs:

If a man affiliates himself to the king as a soldier or an official, that official and that soldier would, on the strength of that affiliation, be able to accomplish work a hundred thousands times greater than those they would be able to accomplish on their own strengths.

[Such a person] may at times find himself taking another king prisoner in the name of his king. He himself does not bear the apparatuses or power he needs in order to fulfil the tasks that he carries out, nor does he need to carry them. For the treasuries of the king and of the army, which are the towers of strength garnered by that soldier, carry the power and the apparatuses by way of that affiliation.

That is to say that this soldier is able thereby to accomplish a king’s remarkable accomplishments, and to fulfil an army’s works and enterprises, just as [mere] ants destroy the palace of Pharaoh on the authority of being officials - and a fly eliminates Nimrod through that affiliation.

Through that affiliation, (Footnote) a pine seed as small as a grain of wheat brings forth all the apparatuses of a vast pine tree.

If that affiliation was to be severed, and [the pine seed] to be released from officialdom, it would have to carry its apparatuses and the power necessary to carry out those tasks upon its back and its wrists. Because of this, it would be able to carry out work only as great as the strength in its own small wrist, and relative to the number of apparatuses it happens to be carrying upon its back.

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Footnote: If there is that affiliation, that seed receives a command from the Divine destiny and it is enabled to perform wonderful acts. Yet if that affiliation is cut off, the creation of that seed requires more apparatuses, potency and art than the creation of a massive pine tree.

Should it be requested of one of them that, in that unaffiliated state, it carry out the same work that it used to quite easily carry out in its original state, it would have to carry a king’s factory of military equipment in its wrist, and upon its back; now, even the jesters who entertain people by telling strange old wives’ tales and fables and would be too ashamed to have such a fantasy.

For all of the limbs of the material pine tree, which is the work of power, located on a mountain together with their, apparatuses, need to be present in the bodiless tree, in the seed which is the work of destiny.

Because the factory of that massive tree is that seed. The tree [written] within the destiny of the seed [but which has not yet appeared], appears in the realm of the seen world as the effect of power, and becomes a material pine tree.

The upshot: In the ascription of each existent to the Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd) lies an ease of the degree of necessity. In their being ascribed, with respect to their coming into existence, to ‘Nature’, lie difficulties of the degree of impossibility, and such a notion is outside of the sphere of reason.

The Third Impossibility: This comprises two similitudes that clarify this impossibility - they have also been explained in certain of the epistles.

The First Similitude: A singularly savage barbarian enters a palace that had been built and set up in a desert wasteland, and perfectly decorated and beautifully furnished in a way that evinces all of the signs of civilisation. He looks and sees thousands of harmoniously ordered, masterful objects within.

He begins to inquire into the identity of its builder, and in his savagery and stupidity, he begins to say ‘Definitely one of the objects within this palace built the palace and everything within it, without anyone from the outside interfering.’

He does not look at a single object except that even his savage mind finds it difficult to swallow the idea that it is that particular object that is making all of these objects.

He then sees a notebook, in which the plan for the building of the palace is written, as well as a list of its contents, and its management protocol.

This handless, eyeless and hammerless notebook likewise clearly possesses not the least capability, quite like all of the other objects therein, to build and decorate the palace.

Nonetheless, because he can see that in so far as the notebook constitutes a statement pertaining to theoretical laws and protocols, rather than to the [particular objects in the palace], it must be connected to the palace as a whole, he feels compelled to say ‘It is definitely this notebook that built, organised, and decorated this palace, and it made all of these objects and placed them and hanged them in their proper places’; and at this, his state of savagery turned into the irrational raving of idiots and drunkards.

Just as is in this example, a savage man upholding the naturalist position that leads to the denial of Divinity (ulūhiyyah) enters the palace of the world, which evinces an immeasurably greater degree of harmonious order and perfection than the palace mentioned in the similitude, and all throughout brims with wisdoms bearing semblance to miracles.

He does not consider the palace of this world to be the work of art of the Essence of the Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd), who is beyond the sphere of merely possible beings, and turns away from Him. [Instead], within the sphere of merely possible beings he sees [what are in fact] an assemblage of Divine laws and established practices, and an index of the Lord’s artistry, that are tantamount to a tablet of the writing and erasing of Divine predestination, a notebook of the laws of the practices of the Divine Power, and which in grave error are referred to as “Nature”.

He says: “The existence of some sort of cause is necessarily entailed by all of these things, and there does not appear to be anything that is more interrelated [with the rest of the things] than this very notebook itself. Yet the truth is, a sound intellect could absolutely never accept that this scroll - which is sightless, unconscious, and powerless - could ever bring anything into existence, which is the role only of absolute lordship (rubūbiyyah), and requires the presence of endless power. Yet since I do not accept the existence of a Beginninglessly Eternal Creator (Al-Khāliqu’l-Azalī), then the best thing to say would have to be that this notebook is the one that brought this into existence, and continues to do so.’ We too say:

O drunken idiot, who has amongst all idiots come to be even more idiotic than the very most idiotic of all! Extract your head from the quagmire

of nature, and look back at the Majestic Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘u Dhu’l-Jalāl) to Whose existence all existing beings, from the particles to the planets, testify in different languages, and point to with their fingers. See the manifestations of the Beginninglessly Eternal Inscriber (An-Naqqāshu’l-Azalī), Who built that palace and wrote the palace’s programme in that notebook; look at His kingly commandments, and listen to His Qur’ān, and rid yourself of [your] blatherings!

The Second Similitude: A singularly savage barbarian enters an army’s awe-inspiring military encampment, where he sees the training exercises and orderly maneuvers that they undertake together.

He observes that with the movement of a single soldier, a squadron, brigade and battalion stand up, sit down, march; and they fire [their weapons] with a single command of “Fire!” Now, since [this man’s] barbaric, naive, mind does not perceive and indeed rejects [the notion] that a single commander is directing [the maneuvers], in accordance with the state’s system of regulations and the laws of the King, he imagines that the soldiers are tied together with rope, thinking how miraculous that imaginary rope is, and becoming quite astonished.

He then goes on, and one Friday enters a surpassingly [beautiful] and grand mosque like Aya Sofya. He observes that the congregation of Muslims rise, bow, prostrate and sit at the voice of a single man.

Now, since he knows nothing of the Sacred Law - which consists in the aggregate of the spiritual, heavenly laws arising from the commandments of the Lawgiver - he imagines that the people in the congregation are tied together with physical ropes, and that these wondrous ropes are subjugating and moving them. He leaves [the mosque] and goes on his way, thinking inane thoughts that even surpassingly savage wild animals in human form would laugh at.

Now exactly as in this example, a denier, infected with repudiative naturalistic thought that is pure savagery, entered this world, which is one of the awe-inspiring military encampments for the illimitable soldiers of the King of Beginningless and Endless Eternity; and [entered] this cosmos, which is a harmoniously ordered mosque [of] the Beginninglessly Eternal Worshipped.

Via the assumption that the spiritual laws governing the cosmic systems which arise from the wisdom of that Beginninglessly Eternal King, are physical substances, and via imagining that the perspectival (i‘tibārī) laws of the sultanate of Lordship (rubūbiyyah), and the spiritual provisions and principles of the Supreme Universal Law of the Beginningless Worshipped One - which have only sciential existence - are all material existents and physical substances; if one sets up those laws, arising from knowledge and speech and having only sciential existence, in place of the Divine power, and places existentiation into their hands, and [one] calls this “Nature”, and considers a force that is merely a single manifestation of the Lordly power to constitute a power, and [indeed] an independent almighty being, this mode of thought constitutes a savagery a thousand times more degraded than that of the savage in the similitude.

The upshot: Were the thing that naturalists call “nature” - which is a delusion, with no real reality - to possess extramental existence, it could only ever be a work of art; it could never be an artist. It is itself decoration and could not thus ever have been a decorator (Naqqāsh). It is a set of rulings, and could never thus be a Judge (Ḥākim) itself. It is itself a universal law, and could not thus be a Law-giver (Shāri‘). It is itself a created veil of glory, and therefore could never be a Creator (Khāliq). It is a passively affective nature, and could not thus possibly be an Originating (Fāṭir) agent. It is a law, not a power, and could never thus be Almighty (Qādir); and it is a tool for drawing lines never thus be [the] source [of the lines themselves].

The upshot: Existent beings really do exist, and it is not possible to conceive of a route by which the existent comes into existence other than the four that arose by way of the “precise logical classification” (at-taqsīmu’l-‘aqlī) as mentioned at the beginning of the “Sixteenth Reminder”. (57)

Three of the four perspectives have been conclusively invalidated by way of three obvious impossibilities contained within each of them. Doubtlessly, then, the route of Divine Unity, the fourth route, is necessarily, self-evidently and conclusively proven to be the truth.

For the noble verse mentioned at the beginning of this epistle, أَفِي اللهِ شَكٌّ فَاطِرِ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ (a) clearly points to the Divinity of the Essence

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a Can there be any doubt concerning Allāh, the Creator of the heavens and the earth? (Qur’ān: Ibrāhīm, 14:10)

57. Precise logical classification (at-taqsīmu’l-‘aqlī) - One of innumerable terms employed by Imām Nursī from the Islāmic intellectual sciences of which he was a great master, the taqsīm ‘aqlī or taksîm-i aklî is a type of logical classification that exhaustively establishes all of the possible members of a class by positing each alongside its contradictory (naqīḍ) or that which is equivalent to its contradictory.

For example, "A number is either even or odd", odd being equivalent to the contradictory of "even", i.e. "not-even", because there are only two types of whole numbers; therefore, if a number is noteven, it must be odd. The first logical division Imām Nursī makes on the Nature Epistle is that entities, with respect to themselves, are either brought into existence by natural causes, or they take form of their own accord; the further division is then made regarding the ultimate cause of entities; either they arose because "Nature" entailed their existence, or they arose through the freely-exercised power of Allāh. 

of the Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd) in a way that leaves no room for doubt - and it reveals that all things issue directly from His Power’s hand, and that the heavens and the earth are within the grasp of His free disposal.

O worshipper of natural causes (asbāb)! O wretched man, stranded in “Nature”!

Since the nature of every being is created, just like all [individual] beings are themselves created - for they each evince artistry and are brought into being out of nothing - and the outward cause of each existent being is itself artfully created, as is the case with its effect; and since for anything to exist, a very great number of apparatuses and tools are required, there must therefore exist an Absolutely Powerful Being who brings “nature” into existence, and who creates that cause.

Far be it from this Absolutely Powerful Being that He should need impotent intermediaries, such that they partake in His Lordship and in His existentiation; rather, He has made causes and nature veils of His hand of power, by creating effects together with causes simultaneously, placing within them a certain arrangement and order and giving them an apparent causal [interrelationship] and simultaneity of association, so that He might reveal the manifestations of His Names and His wisdom; [natural causes] would take on the role of the responsible agency for the outward negligence, absence of mercy and shortcomings that appear in things. Thus does He safeguard His glory.

I wonder which would be easiest? For a watchmaker to make the cogwheels of a watch, and then to order and arrange them to form the watch? Or to make some miraculous machine within the cog-wheels, and then to leave the making of the watch to its inanimate hands?

Is this last notion not beyond the realm of possibility?

Now you tell [us], with your unjust and merciless mind. You be the judge!

Or for a scribe to bring pen, paper and ink, and then write out a book with them himself? Would this be easier, or for him to create a writing machine within the paper, the ink and the pen itself more artful and more laborious [to make] than the book itself, and then for him to say to this unfeeling, unconscious machine, “Now, you write!” without himself interfering in any way? Would this not then be a hundred times more difficult than simply writing?

Should you say: Yes, creating a machine to write out a book is indeed a hundred times more complex than the book itself. Yet is there not a certain ease in the way that the machine constitutes a means by which many copies of the same book can be printed?

The answer: By way of His limitless power, the Beginninglessly Eternal Inscriber - in order to reveal the limitless manifestations of His Names within different forms by renewing them at every moment - has created individuating characteristics and faces within all things such that none of the written messages of the Independent and Eternally Besought One (Aṣ-Ṣamad) and none of the Lordly books ever exactly resemble another. Under any circumstances, in order to express different meanings they must each possess a unique face.

If you have eyes, then look at the faces of human beings, and witness the incontrovertible fact that each of their little faces has a distinctive characteristic by which it is distinguished from all other faces that have ever been, from the time of the Prophet Ādam (‘alayhissalām) up until now, and indeed for all eternity, alongside the fact that their basic limbs are congruently similar - this phenomenon is an incontrovertible fact.

[Their] faces are, then, each independent books in themselves. Yet they each require particular writing instruments, as well as a special arrangement, a particular manner in which their unique designs take form and their creation [takes place] - and they require the existence of a special workshop totally different from all others, wherein the materials that they need can be procured and can be placed in their proper places; in which all things necessary to their existences can be incorporated.

Yet, apart from the tasks of arrangement and printing that belong to the printing press, including the molding of a particular design into printing blocks, the power and volition of the Absolutely Almighty Who created that particular printing press would still be needed for the existentiation of the materials used in the task of arrangement; that is, [the power and volition of the Absolutely Almighty would still be needed] in order to bring into existence and procure from all over the world the materials existing within the body of a living creature, the existentiation of which is one hundred times more difficult [than that of the printing press], and [in order to] deliver them into the hands of that printing press in a special balance and order.

That is to say, the [alleged] possibility and hypothesis that ‘Nature’ is like a printing press is thus an utterly meaningless superstition.

Just as was shown through the examples of the watch and the book, the Majestic Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘u Dhu’l-Jalāl), and the One Capable of doing all things created causes, and He equally creates their effects.

By His wisdom, He links effects to their causes, and by His volition He determined [and particularised] one of the manifestations of His Divine supreme law of creation which is no other than the law of Allāh’s customary practice in organising the movements of the cosmos.

He determined the natures of all things, which are mere mirrors and loci of reflection for that manifestation onto these things. Through His power He brought the outward face of ‘Nature’ - which received extramental existence - into being. And, upon that nature did He create all things, and then did He intermingle them all, one with the other.

I wonder then whether the acceptance of this reality, that is a fruit of eminently logical and limitless proofs, is easier? Is not its acceptance so inevitably necessary?

Otherwise, would it be easier to ascribe the limitless number of apparatuses and tools necessary for the bodies of all things to those physical constituents and elements that are referred to as ‘cause’ and ‘Nature’, that are created, designed, inanimate, unconscious, and simple? And do you really contend that matters that are clearly brought to fruition with wisdom and insight in fact do so of their own accord?

Is that not impossible, and beyond the bounds of possibility? I entrust this question to your merciless, unjust intellect.

Says the denier and the worshipper of ‘Nature’: ‘Since you are calling to justice, I therefore declare that I acknowledge the route down which we had up until now travelled was a hundred-fold impossible, and deeply harmful, and utterly ugly.

Whoever has a particle’s weight of consciousness will understand from the carefully [substantiated conclusions] of your foregoing inquiries that ascribing the bringing of beings into existence to natural causes (asbāb) and ‘Nature’ is logically impossible and inconceivably impossible. Ascribing all things directly to the Essence of the Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd) is on the other hand singularly necessary and utterly essential. I therefore declare my faith saying الحمد لله على الإيمان “I praise God for true faith!”

But I have only one doubt: I accept that God is the Creator (Al-Khāliq). Yet what would it harm the kingdom of His Lordship (rubūbiyyah) if certain particular causes were to join in certain insignificant matters and in the bringing of beings into existence? If certain particular causes were to join in the bringing of beings into existence, and in certain insignificant matters; [what would it matter] if they were to share in something of the credit and praise? Would this really take anything away from His Sultanate?’

The answer: In various of the epistles we have most conclusively established that it is the nature of rulership that it must fend off interference. This is such that even the least ruler or official would never consent to his son’s interfering within the domain of his rule. The fact that certain of even some religious sultans killed their innocent sons simply because they imagined that they might interfere with their rule, and despite their being the caliphs of Islām, shows how fundamental and effective the principle of non-interference is in rulership.

The ‘principle of the prevention of partnership’, that is required by complete independence in rule, has manifested its power throughout the history of mankind by way of the extraordinary disorder and chaos that ensues as the result of the existence of two governors within one town, and to there being two kings in one kingdom.

Look! See how a single shadow of sovereignty and rulership within people who are impotent and in need of collaboration fights off interference so vehemently, preventing any intervention by others, rejecting any partnership in its rule, and striving to preserve its independence in its position in an endlessly bigoted way.

Then go ahead and compare, if you can, how much of a necessary requisite and entailment of that rulership it is to reject interference, impede association and expel partners for the Majestic Essence (Allāhu Dhu’l-Jalāl), Who has absolute rulership to the degree of Lordship (rubūbiyyah), absolute superiority to the degree of Divinity (ulūhiyyah), absolute independence to the degree of singularity, an absolute freedom from need of anything, to the degree of the absolute capability to do all things.

The second portion of your doubt is as follows: If certain causes were to become the object of some of the worship and servanthood (‘ubūdiyyah) of particular beings, why would this diminish the total worship and servanthood of all creatures, from particles to planets, that worship that is

directed towards the Essence of the Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd) Who is Absolute in His Being, the object of all worship?

The answer: The Wise Creator (Al-Khāliqu’l-Ḥakīm) of this cosmos has created it such that it is like unto a tree, and he has made conscious beings its most perfect fruits; and of conscious beings, it is man who is the most comprehensive fruit. Could that Absolute Ruler and Independent Sovereign, the One, the Singular, Who created the universe in order to endear Himself and make Himself known, yield up man, who is the fruit of the entirety of the universe, into the hands of others; could He yield up into the hands of others the gratitude and worship of man that are his highest fruit and the most important things to Him, and indeed the ultimate yield of His creation, the purpose of His particular creation, and the fruit of His life? Would He make the upshot of His creation and the fruit of the universe futility and completely at odds with His wisdom?

No! Far be it from Allāh that He would do such a thing!

And now, would He be content to hand the acts of worship of His creations over into the hands of others, causing His Lordship (rubūbiyyah) to be denied? And now, would He ever allow that to happen?

And now, would He cause Himself to be forgotten, and cause His creation to deny His exalted purpose for the universe, whilst handing over the beautiful gratitude, indebtedness, love and servanthood of the most perfect of His creations to natural causes (asbāb), despite the fact that through His actions He limitlessly manifests the fact that He is endearing Himself and making Himself known to creation?

O friend, who has renounced the worship of ‘Nature’! Now it is for you to speak!

He says: “alḥamdulillāh - my two doubts have fallen away and beyond that, you have shown me two such strong and bright proofs of the Divine unity and of His being the One truly worthy of worship, that anyone denying these realities would be as obstinate as a person denying the existence of the sun, and of the day.”

The Fourth Proof of Faith

The Second Subtle Point from The Thirtieth Flash

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ (a)

وَإِنْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ إِلاَّ عِنْدَنَا خَزَائِنُهُ وَمَا نُنَزِّلُهُ إِلاَّ بِقَدَرٍ مَعْلُومٍ (b)

A subtle point of this verse and a Supreme Name (Al-Ismu’l-A‘ẓam) or one of the six lights of the Supreme Name, which is one of the manifestations of the Name ‘the Just’ (Al-‘Adl), was seen from afar in Eskişehir Prison, just as The First Subtle Point was shown. To facilitate the understanding of it, again we say the following, by way of a similitude (tamthīl):

This universe is such an artful palace wherein lies a city that ever alternates demolition and construction; and in that city lies a place that ever simmers between war and migration; and in that place lies a world ever rolling between death and life; yet in that palace and in that city and in that place and in that world an astonishing and marvellous measure and balance prevails that self-evidently proves that these transformation and incomings and outgoings taking place amongst these illimitable beings are

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a In the Name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

b There is nothing, but that its treasuries are with Us, and We do not send it down but in a known measure (Qur’ān: al-Hijr, 21) 

weighed and measured out according to the measure of He Who is One and Singular and sees all created beings at all times and in every single moment, and makes them to proceed before the gaze of His supervision and inspection.

Otherwise, were the causes that strive to violate the balance and to overwhelm it fiercely with the hundred thousand little eggs of a single fish from amongst the species of fish, and the twenty thousand seeds of single flower like the poppy from amongst all plants, and with the onslaught of the elements and the transformations that surge like a flood or were these elements unrestrained and unrestricted, or were consigned to random chance that is without purpose nor objective, and to blind forces that have no measure, and to dark unconscious ‘nature,’ the balance in things and the balance of the universe would be so disturbed and spoilt that in a single year total chaos would come to pass, nay in a single day; the seas would be filled with arbitrary objects and become putrid, and the air would become poisoned with harmful gases, and the earth also would turn into a rubbish heap, slaughterhouse and quagmire, and this world would be strangled.

Now, everything is ordered and balanced and measured with surpassing precision, beginning from the cells of an animal’s body, and from the red and white cells in the blood, and from the transformations of particles, and from the proportionality of the body’s apparatuses, and ending with the incomings and outgoings of the seas, and with the incomings and outcomings of the springs that are under the earth, and with the births and deaths of animals and plants, and with the destructions and constructions of the autumn and the spring, and with the services and activities of the elements and the stars, and to the alternation of death and life, light and darkness, heat and cold and their conflict and antagonism; all of this is such that man’s intellect (‘aql) nowhere ever sees any real waste or futility, nay even human wisdom [that is, sciences] sees and exhibits the most masterful harmonious order and the most beautiful equilibrium in everything. Indeed, human wisdom [that is, sciences] is nothing but one of the manifestations of that harmonious order and balance, and an interpreter thereof.

Come now thus, and behold the equilibrium existing between the sun and the twelve different planets. Now I wonder, does this equilibrium not give a crystal clear demonstration, like the sun, of the Essence, Possessor of

Majesty (Allāhu Dhu’l-Jalāl) Who is the Just (Al-‘Adl) and the Almighty (Al-Qadīr)? Look especially to our ship, that is, to our earth that constitutes one of the planets. In a year, it roams and journeys in an orbit the extent of which is one hundred and twenty-four thousand years. Despite its enormous speed, it does not cause the carefully stacked and arranged things on the earth’s surface to be flung about, or to shake and shudder, nor does it catapult them or throw them off into space. Were its speed to increase or decrease at all, it would catapult its Inhabitants to the sky, flinging them into space. Were its balance to be impaired for a single minute, indeed, for only a single second, our world would be ruined, and perhaps it would collide with another celestial body, such that it would cause a catastrophe. (58)

Likewise, particularly the births and deaths,lives and provision of the four hundred thousand species of animal and plant existing upon the face of the earth being mercifully balanced points to a Just and Compassionate One (Al-‘Adlu wa’r-Raḥīm) just like light points to the sun.

And moreover, the [sensitive and precise] limbs, faculties and senses of a single of the illimitable individuals of one of the illimitable communities exist in [a state of] relatedness, proportionality and stability with a sensitive balance such that this balance and equilibrium self-evidently points to the Just and Wise, Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘u’l-‘Adlu wa’l-Ḥakīm).

There is furthermore a precise, sensitive and masterful balance in the cells of the body of every single animal, and its blood tubes, and in its blood cells, and in the particles within the cells. This self-evidently establishes that it is nurtured and directed according to the balance, law and order of a singular Just and Wise Creator (Al-Khāliqu’l-‘Adlu wa’l-Ḥakīm), in Whose hands are the reins of all things, and Who possesses the keys of all things, and Who is not prevented from anything by anything, and Who directs all things with ease, as if directing only a single thing.

Would those who deem it far-fetched that the actions of jinn and men will be weighed in the supreme scales of justice in the supreme court of justice of the Resurrection and believe not in it only scrutinise the great balance they see in this world with their own eyes, [then] their deeming it far-fetched would indubitably vanish.

O wasteful, improvident waster! O oppressive, unjust tyrant! And O squalid, unclean wretched human! Since you do not perform frugality,

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58. Literal: Doomsday 

cleanliness and justice, each of which are laws governing the activity of all existent beings, with your opposition to all existent beings, you [spiritually] draw their hatred and anger. What must be supporting you, such that you provoke the anger of all existent beings with your tyranny and your disorder, with your wastefulness and your uncleanliness?

Yes, the all-embracing wisdom in the universe, that is part of the supreme manifestation of the Name ‘the Wise’ (Al-Ḥakīm), pivots around providence and not being wasteful, and commands us to be provident. And the perfect justice in the universe, which is part of the supreme manifestation of the Name ‘the Just’ (Al-‘Adl), directs the balance of all things, and also commands the human being to justice.

The mention of ‘the balance’ (mīzān) four times that indicates four degrees and four types of the balance in the verses of Sūratu’r-Raḥmān

وَالسَّمَاءَ رَفَعَهَا وَوَضَعَ المِيزَانَ *

أَلاَّ تَطْغَوْا فِي المِيزَانِ وَأَقِيمُوا الوَزْنَ بِالقِسْطِ وَلاَ تُخْسِرُوا المِيزَانَ (a)

without a doubt points to the degree of sublimity of the balance in the universe, and to its supreme importance.

Yes, just as there is no wastefulness in anything, nor is there any real oppression or lack of equilibrium in anything, the cleanliness and purity that come from the supreme manifestation of the Name ‘the Pure’ (Al-Quddūs) clean and beautify all of the beings in the universe. Thus, true uncleanliness and ugliness are not to be seen in anything in so far as the squalid and polluted hands of men do not interfere with them.

Now, understand from this that justice (‘adālah), providence (iqtiṣad) and cleanliness (naẓāfah), which are each Qur’ānic realities and Islāmic laws, are fundamental precepts of human life.

And discern just how connected the Qur’ānic rulings are with the universe, how they have sent their roots out to the universe and encompassed it, and that ruining of those realities is as impossible as ruining of the universe and the deformation of its form.

Now, is it at all possible that very strong and all-encompassing realities like mercy, favour, justice, wisdom, providence and cleanliness, that

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a “and heaven He raised up, and set the Balance. Transgress not in the Balance, and weigh with justice, and skimp not in the Balance” (Qur’ān: ar-Raḥmān, 55:7-8) 

hold sway over the entire universe and all the existent beings, should turn into mercilessness, oppression, the deprivation of wisdom and wastefulness, and into uncleanliness and futility through the absence of Resurrection and the Hereafter not occurring, despite it being so that hundreds of all-embracing realities the like of mercy, favour and protection entail and necessitate the Resurrection and Hereafter, as do these three supreme lights (justice, providence and cleanliness)? Far be it from Him, a hundred thousand times, far be it from Him!

I wonder! Is it possible that the mercy and wisdom that mercifully protect the rights relating to the life of a single fly should, by not bringing about the Resurrection, neglect the illimitable rights relating to the lives of all conscious beings, and the illimitable rights of the infinite number of all existents?

And, in a manner of speaking, does the sublimity of Lordship (rubūbiyyah) that evinces infinite sensitivity and precision within mercy, compassion, justice and wisdom, and the kingdom of Divinity (ulūhiyyah) that ornamented this universe with illimitable wonders of His artistry and blessings in order to exhibit and make manifest His perfections, and so as to make itself known and endear itself; what we are saying is this: could that [Lordship and Divinity] allow the Resurrection not to come about, [a nonoccurrence] that would diminish the glory of all of His perfections and all of His creatures, and that would imply denying both [His Lordship and Divinity]? Far be it from Him! The like of this absolute beauty would never allow the like of that absolute ugliness.

Yes, whoever wants to deny the Hereafter must first deny the entirety of this world along with all of its realities [within it], otherwise, this world with all of its realities refute [such a person] with a hundred thousand tongues. And he would prove with this lie of his that he is a hundred thousand times a liar. ‘The Tenth Word,’ has proven with its conclusive evidences that the existence of the Hereafter is absolutely certain just like the existence of this world, and there is no doubt about it.

The Fifth Proof of Faith

The Third Subtle Point of The Thirtieth Flash

The third subtle point, which indicates the third of the six

lights of the Supreme Name (Al-Ismu’l-A‘ẓam).

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ (a) * اُدْعُ إِلىَ سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالحِكْمَةِ (b)

During the noble month of Ramaḍān in Eskişehir Prison, a subtle point of this verse, and a Supreme Name or one of the six lights of the Supreme Name which is one of the manifestations of the Name ‘the Equitable’ (Al-Ḥakam), was seen.

The Third Subtle Point, which comprises five points as an indication of that point alone, was hastily written. It has remained in the form of a draft.

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a In the Name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

b Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom (Qur’ān: an-Naḥl, 16:125) 

بِاسْمِهِ سُبْحَانَهُ

The First Point of the Third Subtle Point: As has been indicated in ‘The Tenth Word,’ the supreme manifestation of the Name ‘the Equitable’ (Al-Ḥakam), has made this universe like unto a book, upon the every page of which hundreds of books have been written, and within the each line of which there are hundreds of pages, and within each word of which there are hundreds of lines, and the each letter of which there are hundreds of words, and within each of its points, there is a concise and little index of the book. That book thus clearly points from hundreds of different perspectives and in each of its pages and lines and it even points to its inscriber and writer, such that beholding this book of the universe proves the existence of its Writer as well as His unicity (waḥdah) a hundred times more than it proves the existence of itself. For, although one letter expresses its existence as much as one letter, it expresses its writer as much as one line.

Yes, a single of the pages of this great book is the surface of the earth. One eyewitnesses within this page that there are as many books as there are species of animals and plants which have been written therein in the spring, intermeshed, together, simultaneously, without error and in a surpassingly perfect fashion. Now, a single of the lines on this page is a garden, wherein we behold with our own eyes that there are as many metrical poems that have been written as there are flowers, trees and plants, together, intermeshed, and without error.

A single of the words in that line is a blossoming, leafy tree that is on the verge of bearing fruit. This word itself comprises meaning-bearing paragraphs praising the Wise, Possessor of Majesty (Al-Ḥakīmu Dhu’l-Jalāl) to the number of the harmoniously ordered, well-proportioned, ornamented leaves, flowers and fruits.

Moreover, it is as if this tree - like all blossoming trees - is itself a metrical poem that sings the praises of its Inscriber. It is as if this tree wishes to gaze with thousands of eyes at the artful and marvellous effects of the Wise, Possessor of Majesty (Al-Ḥakīmu Dhu’l-Jalāl) that He has displayed in the exhibition hall of this earth.

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a In His name, may He be exalted!

And moreover, it is as if that tree has taken on an ornamented, well-proportioned, harmoniously ordered and meaning-bearing form and conferred a wise form in order to be displayed before the gazes of the Beginninglessly Eternal Sultan (As-Sulṭānu’l-Azalī) during the season of spring; [spring] that is His special festival and His general presentation of His ornamented gifts, insignia and uniforms that He has bestowed upon that tree. In that, [that tree] bears witness to the existence of its Inscriber and the Names of Him from numerous different intermeshed perspectives and proofs and in [many] languages, in every one of its flowers and every one of its fruits.

For example: A balance exists in every flower and in every fruit, and this balance exists within a harmonious order, and this harmonious order within an ever-renewing arrangement and equilibrium; and this equilibrium and arrangement exist within ornamentation and artistry; and this ornamentation, and artistry within meaning-imbued fragrances and wisdom-bearing tastes; it is thus that every flower gives as many indications to the Wise, Possessor of Majesty (Al-Ḥakīmu Dhu’l-Jalāl), as there are flowers of that tree. Moreover a point within the kernel of a fruit, which is like a single letter upon this tree which is a single word, is itself a little box carrying the index and programme of that tree in its entirety.

Analogously, every one of the lines and pages of the book of the universe - not just all of its pages, but all of its lines, words, letters and points - has, through the manifestations of Divine Names, ‘the Equitable’ (Al-Ḥakam) and ‘the Wise’ (Al-Ḥakīm) been made like unto a miracle, such that were all [‘natural’] causes together to combine, they would be unable to produce even a single equal one of its points, and they would be unable to oppose it nor challenge it.

Yes, every one of the cosmological signs to be found in this Universe which is like a copy of the Sublime Qur’ān reveals as many miracles as the points and letters of that cosmological sign. It is indubitably the case, then, that random chance, blind force and deaf ‘nature’ without purpose, balance or perception does not intervene in any way whatever in that special balance nor that tremendously precise harmonious order, each of which are characterised by wisdom and insight. Were they to intervene, it is unquestionably the case that the effects of imbalance and disorder would appear in certain places, whereas, as things actually are, no disorder can be seen in any way.

The Second Point of the Third Subtle Point: It comprises two issues.

The first issue: As has been elucidated in ‘The Tenth Word,’ it must be the case that the beauty (jamāl) which is of the uttermost perfection, and the perfection (kamāl) that is of the uttermost beauty, wishes to behold Itself, and show and present it [to others] - this is a most deep-rooted of principle.

Now, on the basis of this deep-rooted, all-embracing law, in order to make Himself known, and in order that His perfections be known, and in order to manifest His beauty and endear Himself with this universe, and with every one of the pages of this universe, and every one of its lines, and indeed even every one of its letters and points, the Beginninglessly Eternal Inscriber (An-Naqqāshu’l-Azalī) of this great book of the universe makes known and endears the beauty of His perfection and the perfection of His beauty in the diverse languages of every existent being, from the smallest particular thing to the vastest universal thing.

O heedless and ignorant human! The Wise Ruler and Equitable, Possessor of Majesty and Beauty (Al-Ḥākimu’l-Ḥakamu’l-Ḥakīmu Dhu’l-Jalāli wa’l-Jamāl), wishes to make Himself known and endear Himself to you by means of every one of His creatures, in illimitable and dazzling styles; yet if in return for His self-introduction you do not know Him through faith, and if you do not endear yourself to Him through your servanthood (‘ubūdiyyah) in return for His endearing Himself to you, know just to what extent this constitutes two-fold ignorance and loss, that are unlimited. Come to your senses.

The second issue: There is no room for participation (ishtirāk) in the Wise, Almighty Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘u’l-Qadīru wa’l-Ḥakīm)’s ownership of this universe; for the existence of the uttermost harmonious order in all things can accept no polytheism (shirk). This is because were a multiplicity of hands to interfere with a single thing, that thing would be made imbalanced and put into a state of disorder. Just as it is the case that were two kings to exist in a single kingdom, two governors in a single city, and two mayors in a single village, disorder would become manifest in every business related to that country, city and village, so too is it so that the least official does not accept any interference from anyone else in his business; [all of this] demonstrates that the most deep-rooted property of rulership is

independence and solitariness. Thus does harmonious order entail oneness (waḥdah), and rulership (ḥākimiyyah) entail solitariness (infirād).

Now if the temporary shadow of rulership [that is manifest] in mankind, who are in need of help and powerless, rejects this interference, there can be no doubt that interference in the true rulership that is within the degree of absolute Lordship (rubūbiyyah), of the One Who is the Absolutely Almighty (Al-Qadīru’l-Muṭlaq), must be vigorously rejected. Were even an atom’s breadth of interference to exist, the harmonious order [in creation] would be destroyed, whereas the fact of the matter is that this universe has been created such that for the creation of a single seed a power capable of creating a whole tree is necessary, and for the creation of a single tree a power capable of creating the whole universe.

And were they to be, therefore, a partner [of the Divine] interfering and meddling in the universe, this would necessitate his having a share [in the creation] of the smallest seed as well - for that seed is an exemplar of the whole universe.

Thus, two lordships (rubūbiyyah), which the vast universe cannot accommodate, would have to be accommodated by a single seed, rather to be accommodated by a single particle.That is the most, meaningless and far-fetched of impossibilities and absurd imaginations.

Know thus that the ascribing of partners to Allāh (shirk) and disbelief (kufr) that entail the powerlessness of the Absolutely Almighty (Al-Qadīru’l-Muṭlaq) - Who holds all of the states and qualities of this massive universe within the balance of His justice and the order of His wisdom - even with respect to a single seed - is a two-fold opposition, mistake and lie of boundless proportions. [And know] that Divine unity (tawḥīd) is compound truth, reality and truthfulness and good sense of boundless proportions - know this, and say الحمد لله على الإيمان. (a)

The Third Point: The Almighty Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘u’l-Qadīr) has through His Names the Equitable (Al-Ḥakam) and the Wise (Al-Ḥakīm) incorporated thousands of harmoniously ordered worlds into this world. Within all these worlds, He created man, who [of all beings] serves as the greatest pivot and locus of the manifestation of the wisdoms existing in this universe, in his capacity as the centre and the pivot.

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a Praise be to Allāh for true faith! 

The most important wisdoms and benefits of the perimeter of the universe return to and are oriented towards humankind. And within the perimeter of man, provision has been made like unto a centre, such that the majority of the wisdoms and benefits in the world of mankind return to and are oriented to provision and these benefits and wisdoms become manifest thereby with provision. And a dazzling manifestation of the Name ‘the Wise’ (Al-Ḥakīm) becomes manifest through the intermediary of consciousness in mankind and the taste of provision. And every one of the hundreds of sciences that were discovered by the intermediary of man’s consciousness makes known just a single of the manifestations of the Name ‘the Equitable’ (Al-Ḥakam) within just a single species.

For example: Were the science of medicine to be asked, ‘what is this universe,’ it would doubtlessly say, ‘it is a great, harmoniously well-ordered and excellent pharmacy in which every [type of] medicine has been masterfully and skillfully prepared and stacked up.’

And were the science of chemistry to be asked, ‘what is this globe?’ It would say, ‘it is an extremely harmoniously ordered and excellent chemical workshop.’

And the science of machinery would say, ‘it is an extremely magnificent and perfect factory, without deficiency nor fault.’

And the science of agriculture would say, ‘it is a harmoniously ordered farm, and a magnificent garden of the utmost fertility for the crops, wherein every type of seed germinates in its season.’

And the science of trade would say, ‘it is a most harmoniously ordered exhibition, and an ordered and well-arranged market, and a shop containing wonderful products.’

And the science of nutrition would say, ‘it is an extremely organised and magnificent repository and storehouse comprising all varieties of provision.’

And the science of gastronomy would say, ‘it is a Rabbānī kitchen (a kitchen of our Lord) and a Raḥmānī cooking pot (a pot of Divine mercy) wherein all together hundreds of thousands of delectable foods are cooked in perfect harmonious order.’

And military science would say, ‘the earth is the military encampment of an army in which four hundred thousand different nations have each

spring been enlisted afresh, the tents of which have been pitched upon the face of the earth. And this is despite their differing provisions, disparate uniforms and weapons, and their differing drill exercises and [times] in which they are released are brilliantly directed and administered, with surpassing mastery and in perfect order, at the command of the One Supreme Commander, and through His power and mercy in His treasury, without anyone being forgotten nor anything being mixed up or confused.’

And were the science of electricity to be asked, it would indubitably say, ‘the ceiling of this magnificent palace of the universe has been ornamented with infinite electric lamps that are in uttermost harmonious order and balance. However this [only] takes place by means of spectacular order and balance - such that those heavenly lamps, foremost amongst them the sun, thousands of times larger than the earth, burn perpetually. Yet their [states of] equilibrium are never ruined and they never cause others to catch on fire. Where then does its provision come from - its oil, its fuel, and the materials by which it ignites? Why does it never run out? Why is the equilibrium of its blazing never impaired? Whereas even an [ordinary] little lamp goes out if is not consistently tended to.

According to the science of astronomy, the sun is a million times larger than our earth and it has lived for more than a million years. Look then to the wisdom and power of the Wise, Possessor of Majesty (Al-Ḥakīmu Dhu’l-Jalāl), Who burns and fuels the sun (Footnote) without firewood nor coal nor oil, never extinguishing it - so behold, and say, SubḥānAllāh. And say Māshā'Allāh, BārakAllāh, Lā ilāha illallāh (a) according to the number of tenths of every minute of the sun’s lifespan that have passed.

In other words, within these heavenly lamps thus there exists a tremendously artful order, and they are tended with great exactness, as if the steam boiler of that very great and abundant mass of fire and of those

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Footnote: Determine the amount of firewood, coal and gas oil that the sun like a stove or a lamp, which heats the earth, would need on a daily basis! According to the science of astronomy, it would need a million times the [volume] of the earth in heaps of firewood and coal as well as gas oil - thousands of times the [capacity] of all the oceans on earth in order to burn every single day. Now you contemplate for a moment and say, according to the number of particles in the sun, SubḥānAllāh. Māshā'Allāh, BārakAllāh, to the sublimity, wisdom and power of the Almighty Possessor of Majesty (Al-Qadīru Dhu’l-Jalāl) Who perpetually illuminates [by igniting] it with neither firewood nor gas!

a Glory be to Allāh. How wonderful Allāh has willed, how blessed! There is no god but Allāh.

luminous lamps of infinite profusion is a hell that never runs out of heat, such that it sends heat without light to it. Whereas the engine, centre and factory for those electric lamps is a perpetual paradise, that sends light and illumination to it, so that its blazing continues in harmonious order by means of the supreme manifestation of the Names ‘the Equitable’ (Al-Ḥakam) and ‘the Wise’ (Al-Ḥakīm).

And similarly, just like those [sciences mentioned above], by the conclusive testimony of every one of hundreds of sciences, the universe has been ornamented with illimitable wisdoms and beneficial elements, within a most perfect harmonious order containing no deficiency.

And with that wondrous, all-encompassing wisdom, [the Wise Equitable One (Al-Ḥakīmu’l-Ḥakam)] has also incorporated wisdoms and varieties of harmonious order - by means of which He has ordered the entirety of the universe’s totality - in the smallest conscious being and a particle within a smaller standard of measuring.

It is well known and self-evident that the taking into consideration of purposes, wisdoms and benefits, continuously and in an orderly fashion, can only occur by means of free choice, volition, intention and will, and it cannot occur otherwise. These matters cannot be the action of ‘causes’ and ‘nature,’ that have no free choice, volition and intention, nor consciousness - and they cannot intervene therein either. Thus, what indescribable, strange ignorance and madness is the rejection of, or having ignorance concerning, a Freely-choosing Agent (Al-Fā‘ilu’l-Mukhtār) and a Wise Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘u’l-Ḥakīm) the existence of Whom is entailed and demonstrated by the unlimited varieties of harmonious order and wisdoms that exist in all of the existent beings in the universe.

Yes, were there ever to be something to intensely provoke astonishment and surprise in this world, it would be this denial. For although there are an unbounded number of witnesses who bear witness to His existence and unicity (waḥdah) due to His unbounded number of wisdoms and varieties of harmonious order in the beings existing in the universe; [a human being’s] not seeing Him and not knowing Him constitutes such blindness and ignorance that even the most blind and the most ignorant are able to perceive the extent [of that blindness and ignorance].

Indeed even more, I could say that the Sophists, believed to be the most stupid of the disbelievers because of their denial of the existence of the

universe, are actually the most intelligent of any of them; for accepting the existence of the universe whilst rejecting Allāh, the Exalted Creator, can never be accepted and it is impossible to do so. They therefore began to deny the universe, denying themselves also. They negated their own intellects (‘uqūl) in their denial of the existence of all things by saying “nothing exists” thereby ridding themselves of the limitless stupidity of the rest of the deniers hiding beneath the veil of ‘intellect’ (‘aql). [Thus] did they come closer to reason to some degree.

The Fourth Point: If, as has been indicated in ‘The Tenth Word,’ a wise maker and a superlatively sapient, masterful builder carefully attends with precision to hundreds of wisdoms in every one of the stones in a palace, and then does not build a roof for that palace, but pointlessly leaves it, he will be thereby squandering the illimitable wisdoms that he had carefully attended to [in the original construction of the palace], by destroying the palace by not building a roof for that palace - and this is something that no perceptive person can possibly accept [as reasonable].

Now, in a little seed the size of a penny, an absolutely wise being in its perfect wisdom carefully attends with precision to hundreds of tonnes of advantages, purposes and wisdoms, and it is thus not possible from any perspective whatever for it to commit an outrage of wastefulness, providing the numerous needs of a vast tree the like of a mountain in order that it yields only a penny’s worth of benefit, a small purpose and a single fruit, and thereby totally contradicting and violating its [own] wisdom.

Likewise, the Wise Artful Maker Who adorned every one of the beings existing in this palace of the universe with [the necklace of] hundreds of wisdoms, and readied it with hundreds of vocations, and adorned every tree even with [the necklace of] as many wisdoms as it has fruits and as many vocations as it has blossoms, to then futilely, in vain, meaninglessly and pointlessly squander all of the innumerable wisdoms and infinite vocations by not bringing about the Qiyāmah (Doomsday); this [idea] means ascribing absolute powerlessness to the perfect power of that Absolutely Almighty Being (Al-Qadīru’l-Muṭlaq), and it moreover means ascribing limitless futility and vanity to the perfect wisdom of the Absolutely Wise (Al-Ḥakīmu’l-Muṭlaq), and the ascription of infinite ugliness to the beauty of the mercy of the Absolutely Compassionate (Ar-Raḥīmu’l-Muṭlaq), and the ascription of infinite oppression to the perfect justice of the Absolutely Just (Al-‘Adlu’l-Muṭlaq), and it is as if it is a negation of the wisdom, mercy

and justice in this universe that are seen by all, and this is the most ridiculous of all impossibilities, comprising as it does illimitable absurdities.

Therefore, let the people of misguidance (ahlu’ḍ-ḍalālah) come and behold just how their misguidance constitutes pitch-dark, stygian, terrifying darknesses, a pit - a nest - filled with snakes and scorpions, just like their own graves, which they will soon enter and think about; let them know that ‘faith in the Hereafter’ is a way that is comely and luminous like Paradise - and let them enter into faith.

The Fifth Point: It consists of two issues.

The first issue: The Majestic Artful Maker’s (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘u Dhu’l-Jalāl) selecting in all things the lightest form, shortest road, most effortless style, and most beneficial shape, [all] in accordance with His Name, ‘the Wise,’ (Al-Ḥakīm) reveals that wastefulness, futility and uselessness do not accord with [man’s] fiṭrah (the pure receptive original nature), and that just as wastefulness is irreconcilable with the Name, ‘the Equitable’ (Al-Ḥakam), so too is prudence a concomitant and fundamental law thereof.

O improvident, wasteful man! Know the extremity of your violation of [the proper nature of] reality in your not establishing the providence that is the most fundamental law in all the universe. Understand how the verse كُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا وَلاَ تُسْرِفُوا (a) instructs in an essential and vast law.

The second issue: It could be said that the Names ‘the Equitable’ (Al-Ḥakam) and ‘the Wise’ (Al-Ḥakīm) self-evidently point to and entail the messengership of the Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām).

Yes, it being the case that a book of profuse meanings entails the existence of a teacher who teaches it, and extremely dazzling beauty entails the existence of a mirror in which it sees itself and reveals [its beauty], and that an extremely unique, masterful piece of artistry entails the existence of a promoter who presents it.

Indeed, there must necessarily exist a most perfect guide and supreme teacher from amongst mankind, who constitutes the addressees of this great book of the universe, in the each of the letters of which hundreds of meanings and wisdoms are contained. This in order that he instructs

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a eat and drink, but do not waste (Qur’ān: al-A‘rāf, 7:31) 

[mankind] in the real, holy wisdoms present in that book, and indeed make them know of the existence of wisdoms in the universe; nay, who will become a means for the manifestation of the Lordly purposes (al-maqāsidu’r-Rabbāniyya) in the creation of the universe, and indeed for their actual occurrence [in order that] he instructs in the perfect artistry of the Creator (Al-Khāliq) and in the beauty of His Names, which He desired with surpassing concern to manifest throughout the entire universe; and so that he could serve as a mirror [of His Names]; and there can be no doubt that the existence of one who in the name of all conscious beings meets the expansive manifestations of Lordship (rubūbiyyah) with an expansive servanthood (‘ubūdiyyah), in accordance with the Creator’s will to endear Himself [to conscious beings], and His will to have reciprocation from His conscious creatures; one who will divert the attention of conscious beings to the Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘) of those works of art, with a single cry of heralding and hallowing (taqdīs) that sends land and sea into ecstasy, and that resounds in the heavens and the earth; and who by means of the holy lessons and commands makes the ears of all people of intellect (ahlu’l-‘aql) to hearken to it; and who by means of the Sublimely Glorious Qur’ān (Al-Qur’ānu’l-‘Aẓīmu’sh-Sha'n) manifests the Divine purposes of the Equitable, Wise Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘u’l-Ḥakamu wa’l-Ḥakīm) in the best possible way; and who meets the manifestation of all of His wisdoms and His manifestations of beauty (jamāl) and majesty (jalāl) in the best possible manner; [what I am saying is that] there is no doubt that the existence of one who carries out all of these matters in the universe is as indispensable and necessary as that of the sun and the one who carries out these realities and performs all of these duties in the most perfect fashion is witnessed to be [no other than] the Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām).

Therefore, the wisdom in the universe entails [the existence of] the messengership of Aḥmad (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) with an entailment that is conclusively certain, just as does the sun entail light and the light the day.

Yes, just as the supreme manifestation of the Names ‘the Equitable’ (Al-Ḥakam) and ‘the Wise’ (Al-Ḥakīm) in their supreme degree entail the messengership of Aḥmad (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) likewise do a great many of the Most Beautiful Names (Al-Asmāu’l-Ḥusnā), like “Allāh, the Merciful (Ar-Raḥmān), the Compassionate (Ar-Raḥīm), the Loving (Al-Wadūd), the Benefactor

(Al-Mun‘im), the Generous (Al-Karīm), the Beautiful (Al-Jamīl), the Lord (Ar-Rabb),” each entail the messengership of Aḥmad (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) in the supreme degree and in the [most] conclusive level through the supreme manifestation that is witnessed [by all] in the universe.

For example: The expansive mercy that constitutes a manifestation of the Name ‘the Merciful’ (Ar-Raḥmān) becomes manifest through he who is ‘a mercy to all the worlds’ (raḥmatan li’l-‘ālamīn).

And the Divine self-endearment and the Lordly self-introduction, each of which are manifestations of the Name ‘the Loving’ (Al-Wadūd), bear fruit and find reciprocation in that beloved of the Lord of the worlds (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām). And all of the varieties of beauty, each of which are a manifestation of the Name ‘the Beautiful’ (Al-Jamīl) that is, the beauty of the Divine Essence, and the beauty of the Names, and the beauty of the Divine artistry, and the beauty of the Divine works of art also, are all witnessed in the mirror of Aḥmad (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām), and are presented therein.

And the manifestations of the sublimity of Lordship (rubūbiyyah) and the kingdom of Divinity (ulūhiyyah) are known and beheld and understood and acknowledged within by means of the messengership of the Personage of Aḥmad (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) who is the inviter to the kingdom of Lordship (rubūbiyyah). In this way, for each of the majority of the Beautiful Names (Al-Asmāu’l-Ḥusnā), the like of these examples, contains a dazzling proof of the messengership of Aḥmad (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām).

The upshot: Since it is the case that the universe exists, and that this [fact] cannot be denied, there can be no doubt that the realities beheld [by all], the likes of wisdom, favour, mercy, beauty, order, balance and ornamentation, which are like its colours, decoration, lights, illumination, works of art, life and interconnections, cannot be denied from any perspective whatever.

Since it is the case that these attributes and actions cannot be denied, there can be no doubt that one cannot deny the Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd), the Wise (Al-Ḥakīm), the Generous (Al-Karīm), the Compassionate (Ar-Raḥīm), the Beautiful (Al-Jamīl), the Equitable (Al-Ḥakam) and the Just (Al-‘Adl), Who is the One to Whom those attributes are attributed, and the Agent of those actions, and the sun of those lights - that [denial] is

simply not feasible in the first place. And there can be no doubt that it is not possible from any perspective whatever to deny the messengership of Muḥammad (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām), who is the reason for the manifestation of those attributes and actions, and indeed the reason for their perfection, nay the reason for their realisation - he is the greatest guide, and the most perfect teacher, and the most sublime inviter to the truth, and the revealer of the hidden mystery of the universe, and a mirror of the Independent and Eternally Besought One (Aṣ-Ṣamad), and the beloved of the Merciful (Ar-Raḥmān). And what is more, his messengership (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) is the most shining light of the universe, like the illumination of the world of the reality, and the reality of the universe.

عليه وعلى آله وصحبه الصلاة والسلام بعدد عاشرات الأيام وذرات الأنام (a)

سُبْحَانَكَ لاَ عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلاَّ مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الحْكِيمُ (b)

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a Upon him and his family and his companions be blessings and peace, to the number of milliseconds (59) of days, and the particles in created beings.

b Glory be to You! We have no knowledge, except that which you have taught us, surely You are the All-Knowing, the Wise.

59. ‘Āshirā (pl ‘āshirāt) is a specific time unit that is the equivalent of 100 milliseconds. We are not aware of a relative translation for this word, thus we find it suitable to use millisecond instead. However in the manuscript, it is ‘āshirā in other words one-tenth of a second. Alternatively, it could be translated as “Upon him and his family and his companions be blessings and peace, to the number of the tenth of tenths of every second of days, and the particles in created beings.” 

The Sixth Proof of Faith

The Ninth Reality of the Tenth Word

This is the gate of bringing to life and causing to die. It is a manifestation of the Name ‘The Living’ (Al-Ḥayy), ‘The Self-sustaining Sustainer (Al-Qayyūm), ‘The Giver of Life’ (Al-Muḥyī) and ‘the Giver of Death’ (Al-Mumīt).

Is it really possible for one Almighty, Compassionate, All-Knowing and Wise (Al-Qadīru’r-Raḥīm wa’l-‘Alīmu’l-Ḥakīm), Who gave life to the vast, tremendous earth after its dryness and death, and manifested His power through this bringing to life with the Resurrection and dispersal of multifarious creatures exceeding three-hundred thousand species - the resurrection of each one of which, that of man for example, is in itself extraordinary; Who showed the all-encompassing nature of His knowledge by way of the limitless differentiation and separation that takes place within that resurrection and dispersal, and within the interlocking and overlapping therein; Who turned the gaze of all of His servants to endless happiness by promising the Resurrection of mankind through all of His heavenly ordinances; Who manifested the sublimity of His Lordship (rubūbiyyah) by making all existents hand in hand, interdependent and shoulder to shoulder, turning them about within the sphere of His command and volition; Who makes each one of them a supporter to the other, and subject to the other; Who manifested just how much importance He gave to man through making him the most all-embracing fruit of the tree of the

universe, and the subtlest, and the most extremely delicate, and the most precious, and the most dedicated in prayer, by addressing him directly and subjugating to him all things; is it at all possible, for the like of that One, Who is Almighty, Compassionate, All-Knowing and Wise, to not bring about the Resurrection? To not initiate the Resurrection? To be unable to do so? To not bring man back to life? To be unable to do so? To be unable to open a Supreme Court of Justice? To not create Paradise or Hell? Far be it from Him, and absolutely not!

Yes, in every age and every year and every day upon the face of this constricted, temporary world the Glorious Disposer of this world brings into being a very great number of samples and signs of the Greater Resurrection and of the sphere of the Resurrection.

For example: In the resurrection of the spring, we see that He gathers and disperses more than three-hundred thousand species of animals and plants both great and small over the course of five or six days. He brings to life and restores the roots of all trees and plants, and certain animals exactly as they are.

He brings into being the rest of them in a homogenous form which is indistinguishable. Although little seeds - which differ one from the other only very slightly and delicately - are to a great extent intermixed with one another, they are sent out at great speed, scope and ease perfectly differentiated and individuated, in perfect, harmonious order and balance within either six days or six weeks.

Could anything be difficult for the one who does all this? Could He be unable to create the heavens and earth in six days? Or be unable to gather all of mankind with a single call? Far be it from Him, to be unable to do so...

It is to be wondered, were there to be a miracle-working writer who could write out, upon a single page and within a single hour, three hundred thousand books the letters of which had been erased or distorted, without them becoming confused and without a single mistake being made nor any omission, all being written together in a most beautiful form, and someone were to say to you, ‘This same writer will now write, from memory and in a single minute, that book of yours he himself authored fell into the water.” Would you be able to bring yourself to say ‘No! He can’t do that - I don’t believe you?’

Although you see a miracle-wielding king having mountains demolished, countries transformed, and seas turned into land at a mere nod, all in order to show his capacity, or as a lesson, or for pleasure, and although you then see that a vast boulder has tumbled down into the valley and closed up the road upon which are travelling people that he has invited to his private banquet, preventing them from crossing, were someone to say to you ‘Despite how big it is, at a mere nod the king is going to have this boulder lifted out of the way, or broken into pieces. He will not leave his guests stranded on the road.’ Would you say ‘He will not lift it out of the way’ or ‘He will not be able to lift it out of the way!?’

Or were someone to put together a vast army from scratch in a single day, and someone were to say to you ‘with a single trumpet blast, this person brings back together the battalions, the soldiers of which had dispersed for rest. The battalions are then ordered according to his wishes’. Were you to say ‘I don’t believe it!’ you can well see how you would have acted foolishly.

If you have been able to understand these three illustrations, then look: In front of our eyes, the Beginningless Inscriber turns the white page of winter, and opens the green page of spring and summer. Upon the page of the face of the earth, He most beautifully writes more than three-hundred thousand species with the pen of power and destiny. He writes them all together so that they overlap, yet without their becoming jumbled, or without anything counteracting anything else. Never does He make a mistake, although all that He writes differs in form and shape.

Yes, could it really be said of the Wise Preserver (Al-Ḥafiẓu’l-Ḥakīm) Who inserts and preserves the blueprint of the spirit of the greatest tree within the tiniest speck-like seed, ‘how could He possibly preserve the spirits of the dead’? And could it really be said of the Almighty, Who turns about the earth like a pebble in a slingshot, ‘how could He possibly remove this earth from the path of his guests journeying to the Hereafter’, or ‘how will He destroy it’?

Moreover, the Majestic Essence (Allāhu Dhu’l-Jalāl) - Who brought, anew and from nothingness, the armies of all living creatures into being, and recorded and incorporated, in perfect order, the particles within the battalion of bodies of all living creatures with the command ‘Be! And it is …’ - could one really say, of Him, ‘how could He possibly gather,

with a single call, all of the fundamental particles and original constituents of the body, each of which became acquainted with one another by flocking together under the system of the battalion-like body?’

After all, you can see with your own eyes how very many inscriptions He makes, that are samples, examples and signs of the Resurrection. Like the resurrection of this very spring, in every revolution of the earth’s rotation. In each of its ages. In the alternation of night and day. Even in the existentiation and elimination of clouds in the sky. Indeed, were you to imagine yourself existing a thousand years ago, and you compared the two wings of time, past and future, you would see as many samples of the Resurrection and instances of the Gathering (al-ḥashr) as there are ages and days.

You would then recognise the stupidity involved in your denying the reality of the bodily Resurrection, deeming it to be far from reason and implausible despite the fact of your witnessing such a great number of samples and instances thereof.

Look at what the Most Sublime Ordinance (Al-Farmānu’l-A‘ẓam) says about this reality that we have mentioned:

فَانْظُرْ إِلى آثَارِ رَحْمَتِ اللهِ كَيْفَ يُحْيىِ الأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا

إِنَّ ذَلِكَ لَمُحْيِي الْمَوْتَى وَهُوَ عَلَي كُلِّ شَيءٍ قَدِيرٌ (a)

The upshot: There is nothing that would prevent the Resurrection happening, and everything in existence makes its occurrence necessary.

Yes, He it is Who causes the death of this vast earth - a gathering place of wonders - and brings it to life, as if he is killing and bringing to life a commonplace animal. He it is Who made it a pleasant cradle, a masterful, artful ship for man and animal, Who made the sun a radiant lamp and a heater for them in this guest house. He it is Who made the planets planes for the angels. [Yes], there is no doubt that such sublime, eternal lordship (rubūbiyyah) and magnificent, all-encompassing rulership (ḥākimiyyah) is not built upon the things of the evanescent, transient, unsettled, trivial, changing, impermanent, deficient, imperfect affairs of the world, nor will they stop at them. There must exist therefore

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a Look to the effects of Allāh's Mercy in the way he brings the earth to life after its death. That certainly is the Raiser of the dead, and He has power over everything. (Qur’ān, ar-Rūm: 30:50)

another realm and kingdom befitting to them, perpetual, stable, magnificent, that will never face extinction.

It is thus a fact that He employs us for the sake of that realm and He invites us thereto. All people possessing bright spirits testify that He will transfer us to that place, as do all of the spiritual poles of illuminated hearts, and all those endowed with luminous intellects, who broke through the exterior and reached reality. They are those who were honoured with the closeness to the Divine Presence.

They report this to us all agreeing that He has readied a reward and a recompense. Again and again, they convey to us that He has made a very strong promise and a threat that is most severe. Breaking a promise is a form of ignobility and self-abasement, neither of which can even approach His Sacred Majesty. Failing to realise a threat stems from either forgiveness or powerlessness. The fact of the matter is that disbelief is an absolute crime (Footnote) that does not deserve to be forgiven. As for the Absolutely Almighty, He is holy and transcendent above powerlessness. The testifiers and reporters are all in perfect agreement about the basis for the [conclusion to this] issue, despite the fact that they have diverse ways (masālik), spiritual methods (mashārib), and schools of thought (madhāhib).

In terms of plentitude they reach the degree of unanimous testimony, and in quality, they are at the degree of scholarly consensus, and with respect to status, each one of them is a guiding star for mankind, the eye of a congregation, and the beloved hero of a people. With respect to importance, they are the people who are specialised in this issue, and who are qualified to establish truths therein. After all, [it is well known that] two specialists in a science or craft take precedence over thousands of non-specialists, and two people affirming a report take precedence over thousands negating it. For example - if two men report that the crescent of Ramaḍān

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Footnote: Yes, since disbelief constitutes an insult to the entire universe and to all creatures in its degrading the value of existent beings and in its accusing them of futility, and since it is a negation of all of the divine names in its denial of the manifestation of the Divine Names upon the mirrors of existent beings, and since it calls the lie to all creatures in its rejecting the testimonies of all existent beings to divine unity, for these reasons does it totally corrupt human potential such that he becomes incapable of receiving any goodness. It is immense oppression in that it constitutes an impingement on the rights of all creatures, and of all of the divine names. Thus, protecting these rights and the fact that the disbelieving soul becomes incapable of doing good deeds entails that disbelief will never be forgiven. إنَّ الشِرْكَ لظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ "Surely ascribing partners is immense oppression" conveys this meaning.

has appeared, they throw thereby the denial of even thousands of deniers into nullity.

The upshot: There cannot be a more truthful report, a more powerful case or a reality more manifest in this world. There is no doubt thus that this world is a field under cultivation. The place of resurrection is a granary and a harvest, and Paradise and the Hell are two depositories.

The Seventh Proof of Faith

The Seventeenth Window of The Thirty-third Word

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ (a)

إِنَّ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ لَآيَاتٍ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ (b)

We behold the face of the earth in summer, and see that infinite munificence and absolute generosity - which [would ordinarily] cause turmoil and confusion, and necessitate disorder in the [mode of] the creation of things - appear in a harmony and order of singular perfection. And see all the plants that ornament the face of the earth.

And the absolute speed in the creation of things, that entails imbalance and crudeness, also appears with perfect poise therein. Now, look to all of the fruits that ornament the face of the earth.

The absolute multiplicity, that entails insignificance and even ugliness, appears in perfect beauty of artistry. Now look to all of the flowers, that gild the face of the earth.

The absolute ease in the [mode of] creation of things that entails plainness and the absence of artistry appears in absolute mastery and skill, and absolute concern and diligence. And carefully examine all seeds and kernels, which are like little boxes and programmes of the apparatus of the trees and plants that are upon the face of the earth, and like little containers of their life stories!

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a In the Name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

b Indeed, within the heavens and earth are signs for the believers. (Qur’ān, al-Jāthiya, 45:3) 

The gap and absolute distance, that entail difference and separation, also appear in an absolute agreement. And look to each of the types of grains grown throughout the world. The perfect commingling that entails interconnection and entanglement appears - quite to the contrary - in perfect distinction and differentiation.

And look to the distinction of all seeds at the time of germination, scattered under the earth all mixed up with one another. [Seeds] that are with respect to the matter [of which they are composed] totally distinct from one another, and the differing materials existing in trees dividing into leaves and flowers and fruits with perfect distinctness; and the dividing up of the [forms of] nourishment in the stomach all mixed up [with one another] according to [the needs] of the different organs and cells, [all] with perfect differentiation - [look to this] and see perfect power within perfect wisdom.

Moreover, the absolute plenty abundance and infinite [accessibility and] cheapness that each entail insignificance and valuelessness appear upon the face of the earth in a surpassingly valuable and precious condition in terms of the works of art [upon the earth] and [Divine] artistry.

Now, look to the diversity of berries alone, the sweets of Divine power, amongst the illimitable other wonders of artistry, upon the Merciful’s table of the face of the earth! See the perfect mercy in perfect artistry.

For all throughout the earth the boundless cheapness alongside limitless value, and limitless differentiation and distinctness in that absolute cheapness despite intermixing and entangling complication, and perfect concordance and similarity in that limitless differentiation and distinctness despite extreme distance, and artistry and mastery with deep concern and diligence within that perfect similarity, despite extreme ease and effortlessness, and limitless balance (mīzān) and poise, and [the limitless] absence of wastefulness within that masterful artistry despite absolute speed and acceleration, and masterful beauty of artistry in [that] profound absence of wastefulness, despite overwhelming multiplicity and plenty, and absolute harmonious order within an intense beauty of artistry despite infinite munificence; all of this bears witness to the necessity of the existence of a Majestic Almighty (Al-Qadīru Dhu’l-Jalāl) and a Perfect Wise One (Al-Ḥakīmu Dhu’l-Kamāl), and a Beautiful Compassionate One (Ar-Raḥīmu Dhu’l-Jamāl), and to the perfection of

His power, and the beauty of His Lordship (rubūbiyyah), and to His Divine unity (waḥdāniyyah) and singularity (aḥadiyyah), just as the day points to the light, and light to the sun - and [all] this makes manifest the secret of لَهُ الأَسْمَاءُ الحُسْنَى . (a)

So now, O you ignorant, heedless, obstinate, idle poor thing! How can you possibly interpret this supreme reality? And in what way will you be able to elucidate this magnificent, singularly miraculous state of affairs? And to what can you ascribe those superlatively marvellous wonders? What shroud of heedlessness will you be able to throw over this window so as to veil it, which is as wide as the very face of the earth? Where in any of that is the chance that you proclaim? Where is your unconscious friend, who you call ‘nature’ and upon whom you rely, and who is your point of support and companion in misguidance (ḍalālah)? Is it not a hundred times impossible for chance to intervene in these matters? Is it not moreover a thousand instances of impossibility to refer a single of those thousand wondrous matters to ‘nature’? Or does inanimate, powerless ‘nature’ possess in all things as many immaterial machines and presses as there are things manufactured from [each] of those things?

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a And His are the Most Beautiful Names. (Qur’ān, Ṭāhā, 20:8) 

The Eighth Proof of Faith

The Third Ray

Introduction

Just as this epistle, ‘The Third Ray,’ which constitutes the Eighth Proof of Faith points to the necessity of [His] existence (wujūbu’l-wujūd) as well as His unity (waḥdāniyyah), so too does it with conclusive evidences point to the all-encompassing nature of His Lordship (rubūbiyyah) and the sublimity of His power. It also points to the all-encompassing nature of His rulership and the all-embracing nature of His mercy, and proves it.

Moreover it proves the all-encompassing nature of His wisdom and embrace of His knowledge of every part of the universe. That is to say, there are ‘eight conclusions’ to each of the eight introductions to this Eighth Proof of Faith, and each of those premises proves those eight conclusions with their [respective] evidences - and from this perspective does this Eighth Proof of Faith have elevated virtues indeed.

Al-Munājāt

(The Intimate Supplication)

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ (a)

إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلاَفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَالْفُلْكِ الَّتِي تَجْرِي

فِي الْبَحْرِ بِمَا يَنفَعُ النَّاسَ وَمَا أَنزَلَ اللهُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مِن مَّاءٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الأرْضَ

بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَآبَّةٍ وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيَاحِ وَالسَّحَابِ الْمُسَخَّرِ

بَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالأَرْضِ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ (b)

O Allāh and O my Lord (Yā Ilāhī wa Yā Rabbī)! Through the vision of faith and the instruction and light of the Qur’ān, and the lesson of the Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) and the demonstration of the Name ‘the Wise’ (Al-Ḥakīm), I see that there is no rotation and no movement in the heavens except that in its harmonious order the like of this, it indicates and demonstrates Your existence.

And that there is no heavenly body except that it bears witness to Your Lordship (rubūbiyyah) and unicity (waḥdah) and indicates them, in its stillness and its undertaking its tasks without making noise and hanging [in its position] without a prop. There is not a single star but that it points to the grandeur of Your Divinity (ulūhiyyah) and unity (waḥdāniyyah), and bears witness to it in its well-proportioned nature and its ordered positioning, and its luminous smile, and in the seal of homogeneity and similarity with all other stars.

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a In the Name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

b Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day and the ship that runs the sea with profit to men, and the water Allāh sends down from the sky by which He brings the earth back to life after its death, and His scattering all manner of creatures in it, and the turning about of the winds and the cloud subjugated between the sky and the earth - there are signs in all of these for those who use their intellects. (Qur’ān: al-Baqarah, 2:164) 

And there is not a single of the twelve planets but that it bears witness to the necessity of Your existence, and indicates the kingdom of Your Divinity in its wise movements, and in its subjugation in obedience, and in its ordered vocations and in its important satellites.

Yes, just as the heavens bear manifest witness to the necessity of Your existence along with their inhabitants and [indeed] every single one of [their inhabitants], so too do they bear self-evident witness along with the structure of their total aggregate.

O Creator Who created the heavens and earth! And O You Who regulates particles along with their harmoniously ordered constituents and directs them, and O You Who causes those moving stars to run [their courses] along with their ordered satellites, and Who subdues and makes them tractable to His commands; all of this bears mighty witness to the necessity of Your existence, Your unicity (waḥdah) and oneness, and, indeed, the luminescent proofs and dazzling evidences as numerous as the stars in the heavens confirm that testimony.

And those pure, clear, beautiful heavens with their enormous and surpassingly fast bodies give a manifest, dazzling demonstration - with respect to their revealing the attributes of a regular army and the fleet of the kingdom ornamented with electrical lights - of the grandeur of Your Lordship (rubūbiyyah), and the sublimity of Your power that brings all things into existence; and they give a mighty indication of the vast extent of Your rulership that encompasses illimitable heavens, and of Your mercy that embraces all living creatures; and they bear witness - indubitably - to the all-encompassingness of Your knowledge of all things, that knowledge that is connected to all matters and states affecting every single heavenly creature, and that holds them in His grasp and that He orders, and to the all-His wisdom’s embracing all things. And that testimony and signification is manifest and dazzling such that it is as if the stars are the words of testimony of the testifying heavens, and luminous proofs personified.

And the stars in the domain and the sea and the space of the heavens reveal the splendour of the kingdom of Your Divinity with their attributes like unto those of obedient soldiers, and of ordered ships, wondrous aeroplanes and magnificent lamps. And some of those stars, which constitute the rest of the sun’s friends, look to the worlds of the Hereafter through the demonstration and reminder and vocations of our sun - which is one of the

individuals in that army - in the planets and in our globe - for they are not without vocation, but indeed they are suns of the ever-abiding worlds.

O Necessary Being (Yā Wājiba’l-Wujūd), and O Singular One (Yā Wāḥidu Yā Aḥad)! These wonderful stars and those marvellous suns and moons have been subjugated and ordered and employed in Your kingdom and in Your heavens by Your command and strength and power and volition and direction. All of those heavenly bodies glorify and exalt the one and only Creator that created them, rotates them and governs them; and in the language of their states (lisānu’l-ḥāl) they say, SubḥānAllāh (glory be to Allāh!) and Allāhu akbar (Allāh is the greatest). For my part I hallow You using all of their glorifications (tasbīḥāt).

O Majestic Almighty (Yā Qadīru Yā Dha’l-Jalāl) Who is veiled by the intensity of His manifestness, and is hidden by the sublimity of His grandeur!

O Absolutely Almighty (Yā Qādiru’l-Muṭlaq)! By the lesson of Your Wise Qur’ān (Al-Qur’ānu’l-Ḥakīm) and the instruction of Your Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām), I have understood that just as the heavens and the stars bear witness to Your existence and Your unicity (waḥdah), so too does the sky’s atmosphere with its clouds and lightning and thunder and winds and rains testify to the necessity of Your existence and unicity (waḥdah).

Yes, the inanimate, unconscious clouds do not send down the rain that is the water of life, to aid living creatures in need, except by Your mercy and wisdom. It is impossible for random and chaotic chance to ever intervene in this matter.

And as for lightning - which is the most sublime form of electricity, that encourages [one’s] benefitting from it in an allusion to the benefits of illumination derived from electricity - in the most beautiful fashion does it illuminate Your power [manifest] in the sky. As for thunder - that brings glad tidings of the approach of rain, and that makes the great sky to speak and the heavens to reverberate with the [resonance and] roar of its glorifications (tasbīḥāt) - it hallows You in the language that it speaks (lisānu’l-qāl), and bears witness to Your Lordship (rubūbiyyah).

And as for the winds - that are of all provisions the most crucial to the lives of living creatures, and the easiest to benefit from, and that have been charged with very numerous duties, like the bestowal of breathing and

the fanning of living creatures - just as it is so that they indicate the activities of Your power and testify to Your existence in their turning the sky - in accordance with a particular wisdom or other - into a tablet of erasure and confirmation - that is, as if it is a blackboard upon which [things] are written and elucidated, and then erased - so too is mercy - that is, rain - stripped from the clouds by Your Grace and sent to living creatures and it bears witness with the words of its well-proportioned, harmoniously ordered droplets, to the vast extent of Your mercy and broad compassion.

O Disposer [of Affairs] and Active Doer, and O Effuser and Most High!

(Yā Mutaṣarrifu Yā Fa‘āl wa Yā Fayyādhu Yā Muta‘āl!)

Just as each one of the clouds, the lightning, the thunder, the winds and the rains bear witness to the necessity of Your existence, so too do they give an immensely powerful indication by means of the structure of their aggregate to Your unicity (waḥdah) and oneness, in terms of unity, togetherness, interconnectedness and the mutual assistance they give to one another in their duties, despite the fact that they are each distant from one another with respect to their [respective] natures, and opposite to one another in their [respective] quiddities.

And just as each of them bears witness to the grandeur of Your Lordship (rubūbiyyah), that has made vast space into a gathering-place of wonders, and that on some days fills and empties it numerous times; [and bears witness] to the sublimity of Your power, that acts within the enormous atmosphere, as if it is a tablet that is written upon, and the contents of which are replaced and erased, and [as if it is] a sponge that the garden of the earth wrings out and therefrom sprinkles with it; [and bears witness to the sublimity of Your power] that it embraces all things, [each of them] moreover demonstrates the absolute expansiveness of Your mercy and rulership, that both minister to and direct the whole earth, and all creatures under the veil of the atmosphere and that [Divine mercy and rulership] comprehends all things.

And the air in the sky is employed in wise tasks, and the clouds and rains are used in beneficial ways that bespeak knowledge, such that were a knowledge that encompasses all things and a wisdom that embraces all things to [both] not exist, those employments and applications would also not exist [in the first place].

O Active Doer of all that He wills (Yā Fa‘ālan limā yurīd)! Your power, that carries out all of the undertakings in the sky’s atmosphere - like exhibiting at every moment samples of the Resurrection and doomsday, and like transforming the summer into the winter and the winter into the summer within a single hour, and [like] producing a world and sending the other to the unseen - indicates that it will [also] transform this world into the Hereafter, and that eternal matters will become manifest therein.

O Majestic Almighty (Yā Qadīru Yā Dhu’l-Jalāl)! The air and the clouds and the rain and the lightning and the thunder in the sky’s atmosphere are subjected and employed in Your kingdom by Your command and might and strength and power. The creatures in this sky - each of which are far removed from one another in terms of their quiddities - hallow their Commander and Ruler Who makes them to obey His tremendously rapid, direct commands, and His swift, urgent orders, and they praise and extol His mercy.

O Majestic Creator (Yā Khāliqu Yā Dhu’l-Jalāl) of the earth and the heavens! I believed and knew by means of the instruction of Your Wise Qur’ān, and by means of the lesson given by Your Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) that just as the heavens with their stars and the sky’s atmosphere with all that it contains bear witness to the necessity of Your existence and to Your oneness and unicity (waḥdah), so too does the earth with all of its creatures and states bear witness to Your existence and unicity (waḥdah) and give as many demonstrations of them as it has existent beings.

Yes, there is not a transformation on the face of the earth, nor an alternation - be it total or partial - in its trees or animals, like the changing of their clothes every year, except that its harmonious order indicates Your existence and unicity (waḥdah).

And there is no animal except that it testifies to Your existence and oneness in its being mercifully granted its provision in accordance with its degree of weakness and neediness, and in its being given, with wisdom, the physical apparatus necessary for its life.

And there is not a plant or animal created before our eyes every spring, except that it makes You known in its marvellous artistry, its elegantly subtle decoration, its complete distinctiveness, and its harmonious order and proportion.

And the creation of creatures - that fill the face of the earth and are called plants and animals, and that are wonders and miracles of Your power in a perfect fashion and without error, decorated and made distinct with distinguishing marks, delimited and homogenous eggs and ova, droplets, grains and seeds, and the nuclei that are of a single material - is certainly such a powerful testimony to the existence of their Wise Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘u’l-Ḥakīm) and to His unicity (waḥdah), wisdom and limitless power - stronger and more dazzling than the light’s testimony to the sun.

And there is not an element the like of air and water and light and fire and earth except that it bears witness to Your oneness and Your existence by means of its carrying out its duties with a masterfulness that bespeaks consciousness, whereas they have neither consciousness nor perception; and in their bringing singularly ordered and diverse fruits and crops from the treasuries of the unseen, though they be simple, [liable to attempt to] overwhelm [the other], lacking in order and scattered here and there.

O Almighty Originator (Yā Fāṭiru Yā Qādir) and O Revelear Who is the Knower [of everything] (Yā Fattāḥu Yā ‘Allām), and O Creator Who is the Active Doer [of everything] (Yā Fa‘ālu Yā Khallāq)!

Just as the earth along with all of its inhabitants bears witness that its Creator is the Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd), so too does it self-evidently bear witness to Your unicity (waḥdah) and singularity (aḥadiyyah), O One and Singular (Yā Wāḥidu Yā Aḥad) and O Tender One and Granter of gifts (Yā Ḥannānu Yā Mannān) and O Bestower and Provider (Yā Wahhābu Yā Razzāq), along with its insignia on its face, the seals on the faces of its inhabitants, and with respect to the unity and togetherness and interconnectedness and cooperation existing between them, and the oneness of the Names and actions of Lordship (rubūbiyyah) that turn to them and look after them; nay, it bears witness according to the number of existing beings.

And just as the face of the earth points to the grandeur of Your Lordship (rubūbiyyah) and to the free hand of Your power in all things, in its having the status of a barracks and exhibition hall and training ground, and in diverse, divergent physical apparatus being granted in harmoniously ordered fashion to four hundred thousand existing nations amongst the different groups of plant and animal, so too does the granting of diverse, divergent provision in harmoniously ordered fashion to all of the illimita-

ble living creatures from simple dry earth, [but] at the perfectly appropriate time, and in a compassionate and generous form, and the obedience to Your Lordly commands of each of those limitless individuals in perfect subjugation, both reveal that Your mercy embraces all things, and that Your rulership encompasses all things.

Furthermore, the mobilisation and administration of the constantly changing caravans of creatures upon the face of the earth, and the succession of death and life one after another, and animals and plants being governed and directed could only be possible by means of a knowledge connected to all things, and an infinite wisdom the judgement of which operates upon all things. All this points to the all-encompassing nature of Your knowledge and wisdom.

And the copious attention bestowed in this world - this world that is a training ground, and this earth that is a temporary barracks, and in this temporary exhibition hall - upon man, who takes on numberless duties upon this earth in just a short time, and who has been equipped with such spiritual faculties and capacities that it is as if he [is meant] to live for an infinite amount of time, and who freely acts upon all of the beings existing upon the earth; this degree of illimitable expenditure, and the infinite manifestations of Lordship, and these numberless addresses of the Glorified One, and those endless Divine benefactions; surely and in any case, there can be no doubt that all of this cannot be restricted to this short and dismal lifespan, and to this confused and troubling life, and to this transient world so full of tribulations. Nay, they point to benefaction of the Hereafter existing in the ever-enduring world. From this perspective, in that they have all [evidently] been conferred [upon man] for another, eternal life, and for abode of ever-abiding bliss - indeed, they bear witness to it.

O Creator of all things (Yā Khāliqa kulli shay')! All of the creatures of the earth in Your kingdom and upon Your earth are governed and subjugated by Your might and Your strength and Your power and Your volition and Your knowledge and Your wisdom. And the Lordship (rubūbiyyah) the operations of which are beheld upon the face of the earth shows a tremendous all-encompassing and all-embracing nature. And its will and direction and nurture are surpassingly perfect and sensitive, and in all places its operations exist within unity and togetherness and similarity, in such a way that they make known that there is a disposal and lordship that is like

a ‘whole’ that cannot be broken into pieces, and a ‘universal’ that cannot be split up. And the earth hallows and glorifies its Creator alongside all of its inhabitants in illimitable languages clearer even than the language of speech (lisānu’l-qāl); and they praise their Majestic Provider (Ar-Razzāqu Dhu’l-Jalāl) and extol and glorify Him in the languages of their states (lisānu’l-ḥāl) of His innumerable blessings.

O the Most Holy One hidden by the splendour and intensity of His manifestness, and veiled by the sublimity of His grandeur!

I hallow You with all of the hallowings (taqdīsāt) and glorifications (tasbīḥāt) of the earth, above any deficiency or powerlessness or associates [in Divinity], and with all of [the earth’s] praises (taḥmīdāt) and laudations (thanā'āt), I praise and thank You.

O Lord of land and sea (Yā Rabba’l-barri wa’l-baḥr), I have understood, from the lesson of the Qur’ān and the instruction of the Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) that just as the heavens and the sky and the earth bear witness to Your oneness and existence, so too do the seas and rivers and springs and streams bear self-evident witness to the necessity of Your existence and Your unicity (waḥdah).

Yes - there is not an existent being, nor indeed a drop of water in the seas - [the seas] which are like steam boilers, and that are the wellspring of wonders of our world, except that it makes its Creator known, through its existence, its harmonious order, its benefits and its circumstances.

And there is no creature from amongst those strange creatures who are given their provision from within simple sand and simple water in the most perfect manner, and there is not a sea animals - [animals] that are created with harmonious order, and particularly fish, of whom just a single one populates and ornaments the seas with a million little eggs - but that it points to its Creator (Al-Khāliq), and bears witness to its Provider (Ar-Razzāq) in its nature and its vocation, and in the way it is governed and provided with sustenance, and directed and nurtured. And there is not in the seas an adorned precious jewel with special distinguishing properties, except that it introduces You and makes You known in the beauty of its composition, its alluring nature and its beneficial properties.

Yes, just as each of these bears witness to Your unicity (waḥdah), so too do they bear witness to it in the structure of their aggregate, in terms of

the togetherness, interconnectedness and unity within the seal of creation, and of the effortlessness of their creation and the great number of their individuals; and [so too] do they give as many indications of Your existence, and to Your being the Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd), as there are existent beings [that make up] their aggregate; and they [further] bear witness to these in terms of this globe with its land and its seas surrounding it being made to hang [as it were] in space, and being made to run its course around the sun without [the seas] spilling over, nor bestrewing [the land], and with the seas being prevented from taking over the land; and in the creation of multifarious and harmoniously ordered animals jewels from their simple sand and water; and the [animals’] provision and their other needs being managed in a manner both universal and complete, and [their lives being] directed; and the absence of a single of the limitless corpses that would normally be found upon the face of the earth [if it wasn’t attended to].

Just as each of these [the seas, their inhabitants, their being directed and all other mentioned magnificent circumstances] in a most manifest fashion attest to the grandeur of the kingdom of Your Lordship (rubūbiyyah) and the sublimity of Your power that encompasses all things, so too do they each indicate the infinite expansiveness of Your mercy and rulership that reach all things and govern all things, from the vast and superlatively well-proportioned stars above the heavens, to the tiny fish that are given their provision according to an ordered system in the depths of the seas; and [they each] indicate Your knowledge that encompasses all things, and Your wisdom that embraces all things, in their order and their benefits and their wisdoms and their balance and their proportion.

And the existence of pools of mercy - the like of these in the house of Your hospitality that is this world - [pools] for your travelling guests; and the fact of [this world’s] being subjugated to the movement and journeying of mankind, and to his ship and for his benefit, all points to the fact that He Who confers this number of seas as a gift for his guests, who stay [as it were] only a single night in an inn constructed upon the road, must indubitably have made seas of eternal mercy abundant in the eternal centre of His kingdom, such that these [oceans in this world] are but transient and tiny samples of those [to come].

[Just like this], the existence of seas around the earth in magnificent fashion and extraordinary form the like of these, and the singularly

harmoniously order and governance and nurture of sea creatures, self-evidently indicates that they are subjugated to Your command in Your kingdom, by Your strength, power, volition and direction, Yours alone - and that they hallow their Creator in the languages of their states (lisānu’l-ḥāl), and they say AllāhuAkbar (Allāh is the greatest).

O Majestic Almighty (Yā Qadīru Yā Dha’l-Jalāl) Who made the mountains as pegs, containing [some of the] treasures of the ship of the earth! By the instruction of Your Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) and the lesson of Your Wise Qur’ān, I have understood that just as the seas know You and make You known through the wonders they contain, so too do the mountains know You and make You known through their services and through the wisdoms that they carry out for the sake of the earth’s stillness and stability in the face of the force of earthquakes, and its stillness in the face of the storms of the interior transformations that take place at its core, [and for the sake of the face of earth’s] being saved from the oceans overwhelming it, and in order to filter the air of harmful gases, and to preserve and accumulate water, and to store up the minerals that living creatures require.

Yes, there is not a single species of rock in the mountains, nor a type of the substances existing in medicines for diverse illnesses, nor a species of the very multifarious minerals that are acutely necessary for living creatures especially mankind, and there is not a species of plant that ornaments the mountains and the plains with its flowers and gladdens them with its fruits except that it self-evidently testifies to the necessity of the existence of an endlessly almighty, endlessly wise, endlessly compassionate and endlessly generous Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘), by means of its wisdoms and its order, and its beautiful creation, and its benefits that cannot possibly be ascribed to chance, and this especially in the great variation of the tastes of minerals though they resemble one another closely in form, like salt and citric acid and sulphate and alum; and this especially in the diverse species of plant that arise from simple earth, with their distinct flowers and fruits; similarly the unity of rule, unity of direction and unity in their place of origin and dwelling place that exists in their aggregate, in terms of togetherness, unity, inexpensiveness, ease, multiplicity and speed in creation and art - also bear witness to the unicity (waḥdah) and singularity (aḥadiyyah) of the Artful Maker.

And just as the creation of the works of art existing upon the surface and in the hearts of the mountains, and of all of the species all throughout the earth, the creation of every species in the same time and

in the same way, without error and with surpassing perfection and speed, and their being brought into existence without commingling although they are mixed with other species, and without any action obstructing any other ... [what we are saying is that] just as all of this demonstrates the grandeur of Your Lordship (rubūbiyyah) and the sublimity of Your power for which nothing is difficult, so too the filling of the surface and the hearts of the mountains with harmoniously ordered trees and plants and minerals in a way that provides for the illimitable needs of all of the living creatures existing upon the earth’s surface, [and in a way] that satisfies their differing tastes and disparate desires, [and in a way] that cures their myriad illnesses, and the subjecting of those trees, plants and minerals to those in need [both] demonstrate the limitless expansiveness of Your mercy, and the infinite expansiveness of Your rulership; and [Divine mercy and Divine rulership’s] summoning of the trees, plants and minerals moreover according to the needs [of creatures] with knowledge, insight and order, and without oversight or error, though [those trees, plants and minerals] are [before they appear in the world] hidden, existing within darknesses and [in a state of] commingling [with one another] underneath the strata of earth, demonstrates the all-encompassingness of Your knowledge that pertains to all things, and the fact of Your wisdom - that orders all things - embracing all things; and the summoning of medicines and the storing up of minerals also gives a very clear indication and manifest demonstration of the beauties of the disposals of Your Lordship (rubūbiyyah), that are accomplished with mercy and generosity, as well as to the subtle kindnesses surrounded by Your favour.

And the fact of the great mountains’ being harmoniously ordered reserve repositories for the necessities and future requirements of the travelling guests in the inn of this world, and their being treasuries of equipment and perfect storehouses of a great many trusts crucial for life, most certainly constitutes an indication, nay a demonstration, nay a testimony to it being indubitably the case that this Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘) Who is so generous and hospitable, so wise and compassionate, so almighty and Who loves lordship [i.e. loves nurturing compassionately], must surely and in all cases possess endlessly eternal treasuries comprising His endlessly eternal benefactions in the endlessly eternal world, for those guests whom He loves so abundantly - and over there, it is the stars that carry out these duties, in place of the mountains here.

O You Who have the power to do all things (Yā Qādira kulli shay')! The mountains and all of the creatures that they contain are subjected and stored up in Your kingdom by Your strength and Your power, and Your knowledge and Your wisdom. They hallow and glorify their Creator Who has in this fashion employed and subjugated them.

O Merciful Creator (Yā Khāliqu Yā Raḥmān) and O Compassionate Lord (Yā Rabbu Yā Raḥīm)!

By the instruction of Your Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) and the lesson of Your Wise Qur’ān I have understood that just as the sky, space, the earth, the sea and the mountain know You and make You known with all that they contain and by means of the creatures within them, so too do all of the trees and plants existing upon the earth self-evidently make You known and know you by means of their leaves, flowers and fruits.

And each of the leaves upon every tree and plant that are in an ecstatic movement of remembrance (dhikr), and each of their flowers that describe and make known in their ornamentation the Names of their Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘); and every one of the fruits smiling because of their elegant subtlety and from the Divine mercy having been manifested upon them; just as this all bears witness to the necessary existence of a Compassionate, Generous Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘u’r-Raḥīmu wa’l-Karīm) of infinite mercy and generosity [in a testification] that is at the degree of self-evidence, [and in a testification that involves] things that cannot from any perspective whatever be ascribed to random chance: [the leaves, fruits and flowers’] order comprising magnificent art, and the balance (mīzān) existing in that order, and the ornamentedness existing in that balance (mīzān), and the engravings existing in that ornamentation, and the beautiful and multifarious fragrances existing in those engravings, and the different, diverse flavours of fruits existing in those fragrances, so too does it self-evidently bear witness in unification, with respect to the unity and togetherness [of these trees and plants], to the unicity (waḥdah) and singularity (aḥadiyyah) of the Artful Maker Who is the Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd), as well as, with the structure of their aggregate, [with respect to the] mutual resemblance [of those trees and plants], and their mutual resemblance in bearing the stamp of creation, and their proportionality in their [mode of being] directed and administered, and in their mutual congruity in the actions related to their having been brought into existence, and in the Lordly Names that pertain to them, and in [the Names’] directing the illimitable intermeshed 

members of that one hundred thousand species simultaneously with neither error nor oversight.

And just as these [aforementioned creatures] bear witness to the necessity of Your existence and to Your unicity (waḥdah), so too do they - in the magnificently executed nourishment and management involving hundreds of thousands of styles and forms, with neither oversight nor muddling, of illimitable members of the army of living creatures that is made up of four hundred thousand communities upon the face of the earth - testify to the grandeur of Your Lordship (rubūbiyyah) in Your unity (waḥdāniyyah), and to the gravity of Your power that brings the spring into existence as easily as it does a single flower, and to the connectedness of Your power to all things; and [that nourishment and management] demonstrate moreover the absolute expansiveness of Your mercy that prepares for Your innumerable animals and for mankind the diverse, illimitable types of foods, in every place upon the face of the vast earth.

And the occurrence of these limitless events in perfect harmonious order and [alongside these] instances of bestowal of blessings, management, nourishment and operations, and the obedience and subjugation of all things, even the very particles, to those commands and operations gives a conclusive demonstration of the absolute expansiveness of Your rulership; and the fact of the making of all those trees and plants and every leaf and every flower and every fruit and every root, bough and branch, and [their] every bit and every affair being with knowledge and sight in accordance with careful attendance to [general] benefits, welfare and wisdom, gives a very manifest demonstration and points with unlimited fingers to the fact of Your knowledge encompassing all things, and of Your wisdom embracing all things. And each of [these trees, plants, leaves, flowers, fruits, roots, boughs and branches] extols and praises with numberless tongues the beauty of Your artistry that is of singular perfection, and the perfection of Your blessings that are of singular comeliness.

And furthermore, such precious benefactions and blessings, and such a great degree of extraordinary expenditure and generous bounties in the hands of the trees and the plants in this temporary inn and transient guest house, and within a short period of time and a little lifespan, definitely point and indeed bear witness to the fact that the Almighty, Generous and Compassionate One (Al-Qadīru’l-Karīmu wa’r-Raḥīm) - Who presents these [diverse] types of mercy to His guests here - undertakes all

the expenditure and shows plentiful instances of His grace to endear and introduce Himself.

[Otherwise if there was no afterlife], it would be opposite to these outcomes of [the Divine endearment and self-introduction], that is, all the creatures could possibly say ‘He made us taste. Yet, He then executed us [by removing us from the realm of existence] even before allowing us to enjoy them.’

In order not to say this and not let the creatures say, and in order to prevent the ruination of His kingdom of Divinity (ulūhiyyah), and so that He does not deny His absolute mercy, nor let the creatures deny it, and in order not to turn all of His yearning friends into foes by depriving them of those blessings, for sure and without a shadow of a doubt, for His servants whom He will cause to live eternally, He has readied fruit-bearing trees and flower-bearing plants from the endless treasures of His mercy in an eternal world and in an everlasting realm in His never-ending [gardens of] Paradise, and in an eternal fashion befitting the Paradise.

Furthermore, just as all of the trees and plants hallow, glorify and praise You with the words of each of their leaves, flowers and fruits, o too does each and every one of those words in itself hallow You. And especially the masterful flesh of fruits, and their exceedingly diverse artistry, and their extremely marvellous seeds are beautifully crafted and expertly made [by Him]. And sending those food trays to His living guests, by means of entrusting [the trays] into the hands of the trees, and placing upon the heads of the plants, makes their litanies, that is their language of state (lisānu’l- ḥāl), ascend, in terms of their outer manifestation, to the rank of language of speech (lisānu’l-qāl).

All of these are subjugated within Your kingdom, through Your strength and power, and Your volition and beneficence, and Your mercy and wisdom, and they are obedient to each of Your commands.

O Wise, Artful Maker (Yā Ṣāni‘u Yā Ḥakīm) and O Compassionate Creator (Yā Khāliqu Yā Raḥīm), Who is hidden by the intensity of His manifestness, and is covered and veiled by the grandeur of His sublimity!

I hallow You far above any deficiency, powerlessness or partner in Divinity, with the tongues and in the number of all of the leaves, flowers and fruits upon all of the trees and plants, and also do I praise and extol You.

O Almighty Originator, O Wise Manager, O Compassionate Rearer!

(Yā Fāṭiru Yā Qadīr wa Yā Mudabbiru Yā Ḥakīm wa Yā Murabbī Yā Raḥīm!)

By the instruction of the Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) and the lesson of the Wise Qur’ān I have understood and believed that just as the plants and the trees know You, and make known Your Holy Attributes (ṣifāt) and Beautiful Names (Al-Asmāu’l-Ḥusnā), so too is it so that there is not one individual human being or animal - who are the category of living creatures endowed with spirits - but that it bears witness to the necessity of Your existence, and to the effectuation of Your Attributes (ṣifāt) by means of the internal and external limbs of their bodies that work and are employed with surpassing order, quite like clocks, and of the tools and senses in their bodies that have been inserted according to an order of the profoundest precision and a balance of singular sensitivity, and comprising very momentous benefits; [and by means of] the bodily apparatuses that have been incorporated in their bodies in a work of superlative artistry and a furnishing of surpassing wisdom and in an equilibrium (muwāzana) of the profoundest precision; for it is not possible at all that blind power, unconscious ‘nature’ and random chance should intervene in the subtle, precise artistry characterised to such an [overwhelming] extent by sharp vision and such a precise wisdom that discloses [an underlying] consciousness, and such a perfect equilibrium characterised by direction. And these things could never be [the result of] their action and it is impossible.

And its having formed itself is an impossibility comprising a hundred times more impossibilities; for in that case every one of its particles would have to know and see and be able to do all things related to itself, and [the mode of] the formation of its body, and indeed every single thing related to it in this world, and it would have to have all-encompassing knowledge and power quite as if a god - after all this, it would be possible to refer the assembling and formation of the body to it, and to say that is formed itself.

And there is not a single quality in the aggregate [of all bodies] - the like of unity of direction, unity of administration, unity of species and unity of genus; the unity in the stamp of creation that is witnessed in the faces of all - the unity in terms of having eyes, ears and mouths; and the unity in the stamp of wisdom witnessed in the facial characteristics of every member of every species, and the togetherness and interconnectedness in both being

nourished and being brought into existence - except that it gives a conclusive testimony to Your unicity (waḥdah). And it indicates Your singularity (aḥadiyyah) in oneness (waḥidiyyah) by means of the manifestation of all of the Divine Names that are oriented towards the universe within every one of its members.

Moreover, just as the one hundred thousand species of animal spread across the entire face of the earth alongside man demonstrate the extent of the grandeur of Lordship (rubūbiyyah) in their being equipped and trained, in their obedience and subjugation as if a regular army, and in the orderly enforcement of the commands of the lordship in all things from the very smallest to the very biggest, and [just as they] likewise demonstrate the extent of the sublimity of the power in their having been made to be precious creatures despite their abundant multiplicity, and in their having been brought into existence with surpassing speed despite the perfect excellency [in their make], and in their being made with superlative ease despite the perfect artistry, so do they also demonstrate the absolute expansiveness of Your mercy, which delivers the provision of all creatures, starting from microbes and ending with rhinoceroses, and from the smallest fly to the greatest bird, those that are prevalent from the east to the west and from the north to the south; the performance of each of them of a natural vocation like obedient soldiers and the fact of the surface of the earth being the encampment of an army that is again mobilised every spring as a replacement for those who have been discharged in the autumn give a conclusive demonstration of the infinite expansiveness of Your rulership.

Furthermore, just as the fact that every one of the animals constitutes a small-scale copy and a miniaturised exemplar of the universe, and they are made up with profoundly deep knowledge, and profoundly precise wisdom, and without jumbling the intermixed elements, and without confusing the diverse, distinct forms of all animals, and without error or oversight or deficiency, and without the diverse, distinct forms of all animals being confused, points in their [great] number to the fact of Your knowledge encompassing all things, and of Your wisdom embracing all things, so too does each one of them point, in its having been created in beautiful and artful fashion to such a degree that each has become a miracle of artistry and a wonder of wisdom, to the perfection of the beauty of the artful creation of Your Lordship (aṣ-ṣan‘atu’r-Rabbāniyya) and the supreme comeliness of that artistry, which You intensely love and desire to

exhibit. And each of them gives illimitable allusions to the tremendously sweet beauty of Your favour, and particularly in young being nourished in an overwhelmingly kind, gentle fashion, with their desires and wishes being satisfied.

O Merciful and Compassionate, O One Faithful to His promise and the Trustworthy, Sovereign of the Day of Recompense!

(Yā Raḥmānu Yā Raḥīm, Yā Ṣādiqa’l-wa‘di’l-amīn, Yā Mālika Yawmi’d-Dīn!)

Through the instruction of Your Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) and through the guidance of Your Wise Qur’ān I have perceived the following:

It being the case that the most distinguished outcome of the universe is life, and the most distinguished encapsulation of life is spirit (rūḥ), and the most distinguished type of spirit-endowed creatures is those endowed with consciousness; and the most all-embracing of those endowed with consciousness is humankind. The entire universe, too, is subjugated to life and strives for its sake. And living creatures are subjected to those endowed with spirits, and it is for their sake that living creatures are sent into this world. And that those endowed with spirits are subjected to man and they assist him; and that in his innate disposition man sincerely love their Creator, and that their Creator loves them and endears Himself to them by all means. And man’s capacities and spiritual faculties are orientated towards another, ever-abiding world, and toward another, endlessly eternal life. With all their strength man’s heart (qalb) and conscience (wijdān) desire eternity, and his tongue begs his Lord with illimitable prayers for eternity.

[Given all this], there can be no doubt nor unsureness that it is unthinkable to wound the sensibilities of loving, beloved people through the eternal animosity of causing them to die a death not followed by resurrection, despite their [evidently] having been created for eternal love; and it is not possible. Indeed people were sent [to this world] in order that they work for and win unto a life of bliss in another, endlessly eternal world; the manifestations of the Divine Names that are made manifest in man in this short, transient life point to their eternal manifestations, that will be made manifest in the ever-abiding world in the men who will be their mirrors.

Yes, the loyal intimate friend of the One Who is Endlessly Eternal (abadī) will also be eternal (abadī). And the conscious mirror of the Immortal (Bāqī) must stay immortal (bāqī).

One understands from authentic narrations that the spirits of animals will remain eternal, and that some certain individuals from amongst animals will journey to the never-ending (bāqi) world with their spirits and their bodies, like the hoopoe and the ants of Sulaymān (‘alayhissalām), and Ṣāliḥ’s camel (‘alayhissalām), and the dog of the Companions of the Cave (Aṣḥābu’l-Kahf) - and that every species will possess a body to occasionally use. Along with all this, both wisdom and truth, mercy and lordship entail this.

O Almighty and Self-subsistent Sustainer (Yā Qadīru Yā Qayyūm)! All the living, spirit-endowed and conscious in Your kingdom have been subjected to the commandments of Your Lordship (rubūbiyyah) through Your strength and power alone, and through Your volition, direction, mercy and wisdom alone. They have been employed in vocations befitting their innate dispositions. And some of these beings have been subjected to humankind - this by Divine mercy, not man’s own strength and subduing, but because of his innate weakness and powerlessness rather. Everyone of them performs the form of worship particular to it, hallowing its Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘) and Subject of Worship (Ma‘būd) that far be any deficiency or partner in Divinity (ulūhiyyah) from Him, thanking and praising Him for His blessings with both their language of speech (lisānu’l-qāl) and the language of their states (lisānu’l-ḥāl).

O the Most Holy Who is hidden by the intensity of His manifestness, and veiled by the sublimity of His grandeur! I do hallow You with the litanies of all spirit-endowed creatures, and I intend and say,

سُبْحَانَكَ يَا مَنْ جَعَلَ مِنَ المْاَءِ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ حَيٍّ (a)

O Lord of the Worlds! O Lord of the first and the last, and O Lord of the heavens and the earths!

(Yā Rabba’l ‘Ālamīn! Yā Ilāha’l awwalīna wa’l-ākhirīn! Yā Rabba’s-Samāwāti wa’l-Arāḍīn!)

From the instruction of the Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) and the lesson of the Wise Qur’ān I have understood and believed that just as it is the case that with all of their individuals, parts and particles, the sky, space, the earth, land, sea, trees, plants, animals know you, recognise you and bear witness to, demonstrate and point to Your existence and oneness,

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a Glory be to You, O You Who made of water all things living. 

so too do the prophets (anbiyā'), saints (awliyā') and purified ones (aṣfiyā') who constitute the quintessence of humankind who are the quintessence of living creatures who are the quintessence of the universe bear witness to and conclusively report the necessity of Your existence, as well as Your unity (waḥdāniyyah) and singularity (aḥadiyyah) by means of the [gnostic] witnessings of their hearts and intellects - which are their quintessence of the prophets (anbiyā'), saints (awliyā') and purified ones (aṣfiyā') - as well as their mystical unveilings (kashf), inspirations, deductions [the Qur’ān and ḥadīth], with the strength of hundreds of instances of scholarly consensus (ijma‘) and hundreds of instances of unanimous testimony (tawātur). And they prove their reports true with their miracles (mu‘jizāt) and with the wonders (karāmāt) granted to them, and with their [demonstrably and self-evidently] certain (yaqīnī) evidences.

Yes, there is not a flash of insight from the unseen that takes place in hearts, [an insight that is] that shows He Who, behind the veil of the unseen, notifies these flashes of inspiration, and there is not a true inspiration that shows He Who inspires, and there is not a single firm belief (al-i‘tiqādu’l-yaqīni) that through certainty by reality (ḥaqq al-yaqīn) unveils Your Holy Attributes (ṣifāt) and Your Beautiful Names, and there is not a luminous heart amongst the prophets and the saints who witness the lights of the Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd) through certainty by vision (‘ayn al-yaqīn), and there is not an illuminated intellect amongst the purified ones (aṣfiyā') and the sincere friends (ṣiddiqīn) who, through certainty by knowledge (‘ilm al-yaqīn), confirms and proves the signs of the necessity of the existence of the Creator (Al-Khāliq) of all things as well as the proofs of His unicity (waḥdah), except that it constitutes a testimony to the necessity of Your existence and of Your Holy Attributes, and to Your unicity (waḥdah) and singularity (aḥadiyyah), and to Your Beautiful Names, and that it demonstrates them and points to them.

And most particularly, there is not a dazzlingly clear miracle corroborating the reporting of the Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) who is the imām, leader and quintessence of all of the prophets (anbiyā'), saints (awliyā'), purified ones (aṣfiyā') and sincere friends (ṣiddiqīn) and there is not a lofty spiritual reality demonstrating that he is a true [prophet], and there is not a conclusive verse of Divine unity (tawḥīd), and a sacred theme relating to faith in the Qur’ān of Miraculous Exposition

(Al-Qur’ānu’l-Mu‘jizu’l-Bayān) that is the quintessence of the quintessence of all of the Divine and truthful books, except that it bears witness to the necessity of Your existence and of Your Holy Attributes (ṣifāt), and to Your unicity (waḥdah) and singularity (aḥadiyyah), and to Your Beautiful Names and Attributes (ṣifāt), and that it demonstrates them and points to them.

And just as it is the case that the entirety of those truthful reporters of whom there are hundreds of thousands testify to Your existence and oneness founding this [assertion] upon their miracles, the wonders granted to them, and upon their conclusive proofs, so too do they proclaim, report and prove, by means of consensus and concordance, the extent of the grandeur of Your Lordship (rubūbiyyah) that is in effect starting from the administration of the universal matters pertaining to the Supreme Throne that encompasses all things, and ending with knowing the most hidden and most particular [as opposed to universal] thoughts that occur to hearts, as well as their desires and prayers, as well as listening to them and directing them; and they proclaim, report and prove the extent of the sublimity of Your power, which all at once brings illimitable and diverse things into existence before our very eyes, and that creates the greatest thing with the same ease by which it creates the tiniest fly, and without any given action obstructing another, without any business obstructing another.

And just as they prove and give news of the absolute expansiveness of Your mercy that has made the entirety of this universe like an excellent palace for spirit-endowed creatures and especially man, and that has readied Paradise and endless bliss for jinn and men, and that forgets not even the smallest living creature, and that strives to satiate and show kindness to the most powerless of hearts, [and just as they] prove and give news of [the reality of that mercy] by means of their miracles and conclusive proofs; those who give news of the infinite expansiveness of Your rulership to the commandments of which You have subjected, subjugated and employed every single species of creature starting from particles and ending with planets, so too by means of consensus and concordance do they bear witness, demonstrate and point to the fact of Your knowledge encompassing all things, that knowledge that has made the universe like a great book containing as many messages as it has parts, and that has recorded and written all that happen to all existent beings in ‘the Clear Register’

(al-Imāmu’l-Mubīn) (60) and ‘the Clear Book’ (al-Kitābu’l-Mubīn), (61) each of which are the records of the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawḥu’l-Maḥfūẓ); the [knowledge] that has, without error in a harmoniously ordered fashion, recorded indexes for all of the trees along with their programmes, within all of the seeds, and the life history of conscious beings within all memories in their heads.

And [those reporters] bear witness, demonstrate and point to the fact of Your holy wisdom embracing all things, and - that wisdom that adorned every existent being with numerous wisdoms, such that it made every single tree to bear end results to the number of its fruits; [that wisdom] that has carefully attended in every living being to as many benefits as each has limbs, nay parts and cells; indeed, [that Holy wisdom] that has equipped the man’s tongue with as many tiny measures of taste as there are different tastes of food, despite the tongue having been already employed in many other tasks. And they bear witness and demonstrate moreover the fact that the manifestations of Your Names of majesty (jalāl) and beauty (jamāl) the exemplars of which are seen in this world will also continue on into endless eternity, in a more radiant form [than the ones in the world], and they moreover indicate the continuation and never-exhausting of Your benefactions, the exemplars of which are witnessed within this transient world, which will exist in an even more splendid form in the Abode of Bliss, as well as [continuation] of the companionship of these benefactions and their being together with them even in the world of eternity - benefactions that the yearners saw in this world.

Furthermore, all of the prophets, who are the possessors of shining spirits, and the saints who are the poles of luminous hearts, and the purified ones (aṣfiyā') who are the masters of the illuminated intellects - and foremost amongst them the Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) founded upon hundreds of his dazzlingly clear miracles, and the Wise Qur’ān founded upon hundreds of its decisive verses - give glad tidings of eternal bliss for both jinn and men, based on Your promises and Your threats, which You repeated abundantly in all of Your scriptures and holy books, and in reliance upon Your Holy Attributes (ṣifāt) and Glorious States (shu'ūnāt), (62) the like of power, mercy, favour, wisdom, majesty and beauty, and upon Your might (‘izzah) and majesty (jalāl) and the kingdom of Your Lordship

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60. The Clear Register (al-Imāmu’l-Mubīn): It is the Divine Register of Qadr or the Divine Log of destiny that everything is written before and after all that happens. It is more related to the knowledge of Allāh that is about the past and future time rather than that of the present time.

61. The Clear Book (al-Kitābu’l-Mubīn): It is the entirety of all laws that are the basis of all occurrences in destiny. This is more related to the knowledge of Allāh that is about the present time rather than that of past and future.

62. Shu'ūnāt: Holy, transcendent and hallowed states or conditions peculiar to Allāh alone that befit His Glory. We are unable to describe and comprehend those states. This topic cannot be confined to this Footnote and needs deep reading and studying yet just to give a taste of what the word shu'ūnāt may mean. The below explanation benefitted from The Book of Light (Risāle-i Nūr) will hopefully be of help: A sultan invites all his needy subjects to a ship and makes them travel along. He responds to all their needs, feeds them and clothes them. As they receive these favours and they do enjoy them, the sultan has a special pleasure that they are joyfully receiving his good treatment. Likewise, in this world - just like that ship - we, human beings, and all other beings are being perfectly treated, all our needs are responded to, we are given food, drinks and shelter. As we enjoy these, Allāh (subḥānahu wa ta‘ālā) has a special pleasure befitting His glory and majesty that we are unable to comprehend. This special delight in Allāh's state is called "lezzet-i mukaddese" (holy, transcendent and glorified pleasure) befitting His Glory and Grandeur. 

(rubūbiyyah) - they give glad tidings thereof with their mystical unveilings (kashf), gnostic witnessings (mushāhadah) and beliefs that [are characterised] by certainty of knowledge (‘ilm al-yaqīn), and they give news and proclaim the existence of hell to the people of misguidance (ahlu’ḍ-ḍalālah) - they [prophets, saints and sincere friends of Allāh] believe [in all of this, and] bear witness to [its truth].

O Almighty and Wise! O Merciful and Compassionate! O One faithful to His promise and Generous!

(Yā Qādiru Yā Ḥakīm! Wa Yā Raḥmānu Yā Raḥīm! Wa Yā Ṣādiqa’lwa‘di’l-Karīm!).

O Majestic Subduer (Yā Qahhāru Yā Dha’l-Jalāl) Who is the Possessor of might and sublimity and majesty!

Hallowed are You, a hundred thousand times with all hallowing! [By not bringing the Resurrection], You are limitlessly transcendent and high beyond confirming the people of misguidance and the disbelievers in their denial of the Resurrection - the people of misguidance and the disbelievers, who deny this quantity of Your sincere friends and Your promises, Attributes (ṣifāt) and Glorious States (shu'ūnāt), and You are far beyond rejecting that which the kingdom of Your Lordship (rubūbiyyah) most certainly entails; and the rejection of the innumerable supplications and prayers of Your unlimited number of devoted, righteous, acknowledged servants, who You love and who endear themselves to You by means of their belief in You and their obeying You. [You are limitlessly transcendent and high beyond confirming the people of misguidance and the disbelievers] who offend the sublimity of Your grandeur, and offend Your might (‘izzah) and majesty (jalāl), and offend the honour of Your Divinity (ulūhiyyah), and offend the pity of Your Lordship (rubūbiyyah) in their disbelief, rebellion and denial of Your promise. [Hallowed are You!]

Surely do I hallow Your limitless justice and beauty and mercy beyond the like of this absolute oppression and ugliness, and I desire to recite the verse سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى عَمَّا يَقُولُونَ عُلُوًّا كَبِيرًا (a) to the number of all of the particles in my body.

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a Glory to Him! He is high above all that they say!- Exalted and Great (beyond measure)! (Qur’ān: al-Isrā', 17:43) 

Indeed, those of your truthful messengers and your true prophets (‘alayhimussalām) who are the proclaimers of Your kingdom bear witness by means of certainty by reality (ḥaqq al-yaqīn), certainty by vision (‘ayn al-yaqīn) and certainty by knowledge (‘ilm al-yaqīn) to the existence of treasuries of Your mercy in the hereafter, and the treasures of Your benefactions in the ever-enduring world, and the magnificent and beautiful manifestations of Your Beautiful Names (Al-Asmāu’l-Ḥusnā) which become fully manifest in the Abode of Bliss - they bear witness to them, point to them and give glad tidings of them, and they believe that the greatest ray of the Name Al-Ḥaqq (the Real), which is the source of all realities, their sun and their protector, is the reality of this Greater Resurrection - and they instruct Your servants [in this reality].

O Lord of the prophets and the sincere friends! (Yā Rabba’l-anbiyā' wa’ṣ-ṣıddīqīn!) All of them [prophets, saints and sincere friends of Allāh] are all subjected and employed in Your kingdom, by Your command and Your power, and Your volition and Your direction, and Your knowledge and Your wisdom. They have revealed the globe to be the greatest place of Divine remembrance and this universe is like unto a vast masjid (mosque) - by means of their hallowing (taqdīs), exaltation (takbīr), praise (taḥmīd) and their saying there is no god but Allāh (tahlīl).

O My Lord, and O Lord of the heavens and the earths, O my Creator, and O Creator of all things!

(Yā Rabbī wa Yā Rabba’s-Samāwāti wa’l-Arāḍīn! Yā Khāliqī wa Yā Khāliqa kulli shay'!)

By the right of Your power and volition and wisdom and rulership and mercy that have subjected the heavens along with their stars, and the earth with all that it comprises, and all creatures in all of their states - subject my lower self to me, and subject my request to me, and subject people’s hearts to The Risāle-i Nūr (The Book of Light), in order to serve the Qur’ān and faith, and bestow perfect faith and a good end upon my brothers and I.

And just as you subjected the sea to Mūsā (‘alayhissalām), and the fire to Ibrāhīm (‘alayhissalām), and the mountains and iron to Dāwūd (‘alayhissalām), and jinn and men to Sulaymān (‘alayhissalām), and just as you subjected the sun and the moon to Muḥammad (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām), subject hearts and intellects to The Book of Light.

And protect me and protect the students of The Book of Light from the evil of the lower self (nafs) and of Satan (Shayṭān), and from the punishment of the grave and from hellfire - and give us bliss in the Gardens of Paradise (Jannātu’l-Firdaws), āmīn, āmīn, āmīn!

سُبْحَانَكَ لاَ عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلاَّ مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الحْكِيمُ (a)

وَآخِرُ دَعوَاهُم أنِ الحَمْدُ للهِ رَبِّ العَالَمِينَ (b)

This lesson, which I received from the Qur’ān and from al-Jawshanu’l-Kabīr, the prophetic supplications, do I offer up to Your door, O my Compassionate Lord, as an act of contemplative worship; if I have been inadequate in this, then I ask of Your mercy [to grant me] forgiveness, by means of the interceding of the Qur’ān and al-Jawshanu’l-Kabīr.

Sa‘īdu’n-Nursī

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a Glory be to You! We have no knowledge, except that which you have taught us, surely You are the All-Knowing, the Wise.

b And the close of their prayer will be, 'praise be to Allāh, the Lord of the Worlds'. (Qur’ān: Yūnus, 10:10) 

The Ninth Proof of Faith

The Introduction to Resurrection of The Ninth Ray

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ (a)

فَسُبْحَانَ اللهِ حِينَ تُمْسُونَ وَحِينَ تُصْبِحُونَ (b)

وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ فِي السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَعَشِيّاً وَحِينَ تُظْهِرُونَ (c)

يُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَيُخْرِجُ الْمَيِّتَ مِنَ الْحَيِّ وَيُحْيِي الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَكَذَلِكَ تُخْرَجُونَ (d)

وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَكُم مِّن تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ إِذَا أَنتُم بَشَرٌ تَنتَشِرُونَ وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ

أَزْوَاجاً لِّتَسْكُنُوا إِلَيْهَا وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَكُم مَّوَدَّةً وَرَحْمَةً إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ (e)

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a In the Name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

b So glorify Allāh when you enter the evening and when you enter the morning (perform the sunset, evening and morning Prayers)!

c For to Him is the praise in the heavens and the earth, and at the setting sun, and at noontide (glorify Allāh! Perform the Prayers of Late-afternoon and Noon)!

d He brings forth the living from the dead, and He brings forth the dead from the living, and He brings the earth back to life after it is dead; even so shall you be brought forth (from your graves). And among His (Power’s) signs is that He created you (your father Ādam) of dust; then you became human beings, (increased in number) and scattered throughout the earth).

e And among His signs is that He created for you from your own selves spouses, that you might find tranquility in them, and He has set between you love and mercy. Surely in that are signs for a people who reflect.

وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ خَلْقُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلَافُ أَلْسِنَتِكُمْ وَأَلْوَانِكُمْ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّلْعَالِمِينَ (a)

وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ مَنَامُكُم بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَابْتِغَاؤُكُم مِّن فَضْلِهِ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَسْمَعُونَ (b)

وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ يُرِيكُمُ الْبَرْقَ خَوْفاً وَطَمَعاً وَيُنَزِّلُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَيُحْيِي بِهِ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا

إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ (c)

وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَن تَقُومَ السَّمَاء وَالْأَرْضُ بِأَمْرِهِ ثُمَّ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ دَعْوَةً مِّنَ الْأَرْضِ إِذَا أَنتُمْ تَخْرُجُونَ (d)

وَلَهُ مَن فِي السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ كُلٌّ لَّهُ قَانِتُونَ (e)

وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَبْدَأُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ وَهُوَ أَهْوَنُ عَلَيْهِ وَلَهُ الْمَثَلُ الْأَعْلَى فِي السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ (f)

In this Ninth Ray, a supreme subtle point and a most sublime proof that are related to these supreme, heavenly signs that point to one of the poles of faith, and that are related to the supreme and holy proofs that establish the resurrection will be explained.

[A subtle instance of Lordly favour]

It is a subtle instance of Divine favour that, thirty years ago, the Old Sa‘īd wrote at the end of the book named al-Muḥākamāt, which he had written as an introduction to [a piece of] Qur’ānic exegesis. [He started]:

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a And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your languages and colours. Surely in that are signs for a people of knowledge.

b And among His signs is your sleeping by night and day, and your seeking after (your provision of) His bounty. Surely in that are signs for a people who hear.

c And among His signs is that He shows you the lightning, which causes fear and hope, and that He sends down water from the sky, bringing the earth back to life after it is dead thereby. Surely in that are signs for a people who use their intellects.

d And of His signs is that the heaven and earth stand firm (as is) by His command; then, when He calls you (from your graves to arise from dead) once will you emerge (from there).

e To Him belongs whosoever is in the heavens and the earth; all are devoutly obedient to Him.

f And He it is Who starts off the creation, and then brings it (that creation) back again (in the hereafter), and it is easier for Him. His is the loftiest attribute in the heavens and the earth, and He is the Mighty (Whose power prevails over all perpetually), the Wise (every deed of Whom is with wisdom).” (Qur’ān: al-Rūm, 30:17-27) 

“The second purpose: Two verses in the Qur’ān that point to the Resurrection will now be interpreted and explained, and thereafter, he wrote, نحو: بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ ‘In the Name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate.’ And he stopped, and was unable to continue writing. As many thanks and praises as there are evidences and signs of Resurrection be, then, to my Compassionate Creator (Al-Khāliqu’r-Raḥīm), for His having favoured me [by giving me the ability] to complete it thirty years on.

Yes, nine or ten years ago, He (the Exalted), bestowed, ‘The Tenth Word,’ and ‘The Twenty-ninth Word,’ upon me, the both of which comprise dazzling and extremely powerful proofs and interpretations of the first of those two verses of the Divine edict, namely, فَانظُرْ إِلَى آثَارِ رَحْمَتِ اللهِ كَيْفَ يُحْيِي الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا إِنَّ ذَلِكَ لَمُحْيِي الْمَوْتَى وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ (a) and they silenced the naysayers (munkir).

And again, nine or ten years after those two impregnable fortresses of the creed of the Resurrection, He granted me by means of this epistle, to serve as an exegesis of the supreme verses mentioned above, that is, the second set of verses [of the two verses originally mentioned at the beginning of this epistle].This Ninth Ray is thus made up of nine lofty stations and an important introduction, that are both referred to in the above verses.

Introduction: This introduction is of ‘Two Points’ comprising of an explanation of the great many spiritual benefits and crucial results in belief in the Resurrection; and an exposition of just how vital and necessary it is to human life, and particularly to social life of humankind; a summary of one universal proof from amongst the very many proofs for belief in the Resurrection; and a disclosure of the fact that the creed of the Resurrection is so self-evident and indubitable.

The First Point: We will point now - so that they may serve as criteria - to four of the hundreds of evidences that demonstrate that belief in the hereafter is one of the foundations of man’s personal and social life, and that they are the bases of his happiness and his perfections.

The first evidence: Children, who make up almost half of all humanity, could only cope with the death and loss of life that appears to them so

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a Look then to the effects of Allāh's Mercy, how he brings the earth to life after its death. That certainly is the Raiser of the dead, and He is capable of doing all things (Qur’ān: al-Rūm, 30:50) 

terrifying and saddening, with the idea of paradise. They are able to find a spiritual strength within their extremely weak and fragile natures. And with that paradise, [children] can find a [ray of] hope within their spiritual temperaments, which are tremendously feeble and cry at the smallest thing - and thus they are able to live in happiness and peace.

For example, by means of the idea of paradise, [the child] says, ‘my little brother or friend died, and he has become one of the birds of paradise, and he roams around in it, and lives even better than we do’.

Otherwise, the death of children like themselves and of adults around them at all times striking of the anxious sights of those poor, helpless children and would destroy their resistance and spiritual strength, and it would cause all of their subtle spiritual centres (al-laṭāifu’l-ma‘nawiyyah), like the spirit (rūḥ), the heart (qalb), and the intellect (‘aql), to cry so badly along with their eyes, such that they would either be left destructed or end up like mad, miserable animals.

The second evidence: It is only through the idea of the next life that the elderly, who always make up half of humanity in a sense, are able to withstand [the thought of] the grave that is for them so near at hand, and find solace in the face of the imminent extinguishment of their lives, [their lives] to which they are so attached; and faced with the closure of their beautiful world. Only in the hope of an eternal life are they able to cope with the painful, alarming despair brought upon by death and extinction, in their swiftly-effected delicate spirits and temperaments that have become [again] child-like, [causing them to become] quickly upset.

Otherwise, [if they didn’t have the hope of an eternal life], those dignified beings so deserving of compassion, and those anxious fathers and mothers, so in need of tranquility and peace of mind, would feel such [terrifying] screams of their spirits and disquiet of their hearts that this world would be a gloomy dungeon for them, and this life a grim torment.

The third evidence: The only thing that prevents the high-spirited feelings and immoderate egos (nafs) and rampant caprice (hawā') of youth and teenagers, who are the most robust and central element of human social life, from transgression, oppression and destruction, and that enables social life to follow its natural course, is the thought of hell. Otherwise, without the anxiety of hell, those drunken teenagers and youth

who run after their caprices as they are, would, according to the principle الحكم للغالب (a) turn this world into hell for those helpless, vulnerable and feeble ones; and [those teenagers] would turn elevated humanity into an animalism of singular vulgarity.

The fourth evidence: The most all-embracing centre, and the most foundationally strong driving force in humanity’s life in this world, and a paradise for worldly happiness, and a refuge and fortress is family life. And everyone’s home is a small world of theirs. And the life of that home and that family life, and the happiness of both, can only become realised through sincere, serious and constant respect in loyalty, and in true, compassionate, self-sacrificing mercy. And this true respect and sincere mercy only take place through an eternal friendship and a perpetual companionship and an enduring togetherness, and through thinking and believing that their relationships of fatherhood, sonhood, brotherhood and friendship will continue on in endless time and in a boundless life.

[Such a man] would, for example, say ‘this wife of mine will be my perpetual life-companion in an endless world and an eternal life. It does not matter at all that for now she is old and unsightly, for she possesses an eternal beauty and her beauty will come [back].’ And he might treat his old wife with such love, compassion and mercy, quite as if she were a beautiful houri, saying, ‘I will make every sacrifice and act with all mercy for the sake of the like of this perpetual companionship.’ Otherwise, the type of companionship that is subjected to eternal departure and separation after a short, external friendship that lasts for [only] a few hours, doubtlessly can produce a sort of metaphorical mercy and artificial respect carrying the meaning of totally external, temporary and baseless pity like [how] animals pity other animals. And other interests and dominant sentiments like those in animals overcome that respect and mercy and that wordly paradise turns into hell.

Now, one of the hundreds of fruits of belief in the Resurrection is thus pertinent to man’s social life. And were you to draw conclusions based on hundreds of facets and benefits of the other fruits analogous to this single fruit with these four evidences, it would be understood that the actuality of the reality of the Resurrection and its occurrence are conclusively certain, to the degree of conclusive certainty of the elevated reality of

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a Power is with the strong.

humanity and humanity’s [innate disposition with] universal needs. Rather the actuality of the reality of the Resurrection and its occurrence are more manifest than the signification and testimony of the existence of needs in man’s stomach to the existence of various food. And [indeed] they give news of Resurrection’s actuality even more forcefully. It further proves that were humanity to be stripped of the fruits of the reality of Resurrection, humanity’s quiddity (māhiyyah), which is of surpassing importance, loftiness and vitality, would fall down to the status of rotting carrion that is a filthy breeding ground for microbes.

Let sociologists, politicians and moral philosophers be aware of this, they who care so passionately for the direction of mankind, and for their morality and societies. Let them come [and tell] us what they could fill this emptiness with, and how they could heal these deep wounds?

The Second Point: We elucidate a proof that is from amongst the limitless proofs for the reality of the Resurrection and that springs from a summation of the testimonies of the other articles of faith.

This is that all of the miracles of our Beloved Prophet Muḥammad (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) that demonstrate his messengership, and all of the evidences of his prophethood, and all of the proofs that point to his truthfulness, all bear witness to and prove the actuality of the reality of the Resurrection. For all of the claims of this Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) throughout his whole life concentrate, after Divine unity (waḥdāniyyah), upon the Resurrection. And all of his miracles and proofs that confirm all of the rest of the prophets and cause others to believe in them testify to the same reality.

The testimony to وكتبه (And His books), that raises the testimony [to the Resurrection], which results from the phrase ورسله (And His messengers), to the degree of self-evident knowledge, gives witness to the same reality [of Resurrection].

This is because firstly all of the miracles of the Qur’ān of Miraculous Exposition (Al-Qur’ānu’l-Mu‘jizu’l-Bayān), along with its proofs and its truths that establish its truthfulness, each and all of them bear witness to and prove the actuality of the reality of the Resurrection and its occurrence; for nearly a third of the Qur’ān speaks of the Resurrection, and at the beginnings of the majority of its short sūras very powerful verses are the verses of Resurrection. In thousands of its verses the Qur’ān [both] explicitly and implicitly gives news of that same reality, establishing and demonstrating it.

For example: At the beginnings of thirty or forty suras, it points to the fact, with all of its certainty, that the reality of the Resurrection is the most important and necessary of all of the realities of the universe, this in the like of the following sūras:

إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ (a) يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ شَيْءٌ عَظِيمٌ (b)

إِذَا زُلْزِلَتِ الأَرْضُ زِلْزَالَهَا (c) إِذَا السَّمَاءُ انْفَطَرَتْ (d) إِذَا السَّمَاءُ انْشَقَّتْ (e)

عَمَّ يَتَسَاءَلُونَ (f) هَلْ أَتَيكَ حَدِيثُ الغَاشِيَةِ (g)

[The Qur’ān further] expounds multifarious evidences of that reality in other verses and persuades [us] of [the Resurrection].

Now I wonder! Is it possible in any way whatsoever that faith in the Resurrection could be false? The faith in the Resurrection that manifests itself like the sun in thousands of testimonies and claims the like of those aforementioned, in a book a single allusion of a single verse of which yields before our very eyes numerous scientific and cosmological realities within the Islāmic sciences. Would that not be like denying the sun, or indeed, upholding the nonexistence of the universe? Would that not be in a hundred degrees impossible and false? A complete army at times manoeuvres and attacks with a single signal from a sultan [of any country] solely in order that [the sultan’s honour is not disturbed and] his single signal not denied.

Now I wonder! Is it at all possible in any way whatever to prove thousands of statements, promises and threats of a Sultan wrong - a Sultan of singular dignity and might, when it is the case that a single signal from a mere sultan of a mere country not be denied? Could His thousands of statements, promises and threats not be real then?

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a When the sun is wrapped up (Qur’ān: at-Takwīr, 81:1)

b O mankind, fear your Lord. Indeed, the convulsion of the [final] Hour is a terrible thing. (Qur’ān: al-Haj, 22:1)

c When the earth is shaken with its [final] earthquake (Qur’ān: az-Zalzalah, 99:1)

d When the sky breaks apart (Qur’ān: al-Infitār, 82:1)

e When the sky has split [open] (Qur’ān: al-Inshiqāq, 84:1)

f About what are they asking one another? (Qur’ān: an-Naba, 78:1)

g Has there reached you the report of the Overwhelming [event]? (Qur’ān: al-Ghāshiyah, 88:1) 

And whereas a single signal from this majestic spiritual Sultan, who has ruled limitless spirits (arwāḥ), intellects (‘uqūl), hearts (qulūb) and souls (nufūs) within the limits of truth and reality, and has nurtured them and directed them uninterruptedly for thirteen hundred centuries, is sufficient to prove the truth of the like of this reality, I indeed wonder, does [the foolish denial] of the most ignorant of idiots - who [still] does not recognise that reality of resurrection - not require they be punished in hell after that sultan has demonstrated and established it with thousands of explicit statements? Would that not be justice itself?

Yes, all heavenly scriptures and holy books, that ruled over a particular time and a particular age [in which they were revealed], definitely accept the reality of the Resurrection in compliance with their own age and time. It is the reality that the Qur’ān, which simultaneously rules over the entirety of the future and all ages, elucidated and proved true in detail and with illustrations and repetition.

In addition to their definite acceptance of this reality, these heavenly scriptures and holy books explained it in an undetailed, veiled and in a brief fashion yet they put forward their claims and they proved [the reality of Resurrection] so strongly that all of these - put together - confirm the claim of the Qur’ān with thousands of endorsements.

[In what follows] we have, in connection with this topic, included the testimony of the other articles [of faith], and especially the testimony of the articles of ‘faith in the messengers and scriptures,’ and, ‘faith in the Last Day’ (al-īmānu bi’l-yawmi’l-ākhir), from the end of Risālatu’l-Munājāt, ‘The Epistle of Intimate Supplication,’ which is a proof of the Resurrection that comes in the form of a supplication; it is very powerful and concise, and gets rid of any imaginings [one might have] - and it is here included in its entirety. The supplication comprises the following:

O my Compassionate Lord (Yā Rabbī Yā Raḥīm)! I have understood from the instruction of Your Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) and from the lesson of the Wise Qur’ān that all of the holy books and the prophets, and foremost amongst them the Qur’ān and the Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) testify, demonstrate and point by consensus and agreement to the fact that the manifestations of the Divine Names pertaining to majesty and beauty (jalāl and jamāl) the exemplars of which are seen all throughout this world will continue on into all eternity in clearer and more dazzling form; [and

that they testify, demonstrate and point to] the fact that Your benefactions - the mercy-filled exemplars and manifestations of which are witnessed in this transient world will endure forever, and will continue in the Abode of Bliss in a more brilliant form; [and that they testify, demonstrate and point to] the fact that the yearners who witness that beneficence with such enjoyment, and who accompany it with such love within the short life of this world, will also accompany it in the endless world, and they will be together.

Moreover, all of the prophets (anbiyā'), those possessors of luminous spirits - and foremost amongst them the Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) and Your Wise Qur’ān - all relying upon hundreds of their dazzlingly clear miracles and their conclusive signs; and all of the saints (awliyā') who are the poles of illuminated hearts (aqṭāb); and all of the sincere friends of Allāh (ṣiddiqīn), who are the treasure trove of sharp and enlightened intellects, bring mankind the good news of endless bliss, relying upon thousands of Your promises and threats, that You have again and again mentioned in all of Your heavenly scriptures and holy books, and relying upon Your Holy Attributes (ṣifāt) and Glorious States (shu'unāt) that entail the hereafter, like Your power and mercy and favour and wisdom and majesty and beauty, and relying upon the might of Your majesty, and the kingdom of Your Lordship (rubūbiyyah), and based upon their limitless mystical unveilings (kashf) and gnostic witnessings (mushāhadah) that bespeak of the traces and sprinklings of the hereafter, and based upon their conviction (i‘tiqād) and faith (īmān), that are in the degree of certainty by knowledge (‘ilm al-yaqīn) and certainty by vision (‘ayn al-yaqīn). They report and proclaim that there hell exists for the people of misguidance (ahlu’ḍ-ḍalālah), and paradise for the people of guidance (ahlu’l-hidāyah). They strongly believe in this and they bear witness to [its truth] most powerfully.

O Wise Almighty! O Merciful and Compassionate! O One faithful to His promise and Generous! (Yā Qādiru Yā Ḥakīm! Wa Yā Raḥmānu Yā Raḥīm! Wa Yā Ṣādiqa’lwa‘di’l-Karīm!)

O Majestic Subduer (Yā Qahhāru Yā Dha’l-Jalāl) Who is the Possessor of might and sublimity and majesty!

Hallowed are You, a hundred thousand times with all hallowing! [By not bringing the Resurrection], You are greatly and limitlessly transcendent 

and high beyond confirming the people of misguidance and the disbelievers in their denial of the Resurrection - the people of misguidance and the disbelievers, who deny such a great many of Your sincere friends and Your Holy promises, Attributes (ṣifāt) and Glorious States (shu'ūnāt), and You are far beyond rejecting that which the kingdom of Your Lordship (rubūbiyyah) most certainly entails; and the rejection of the innumerable supplications and prayers of your unlimited number of devoted, righteous, acknowledged servants, who You love and who endear themselves to You by means of their belief in You and their obeying You.

[You are greatly and limitlessly transcendent and high beyond confirming the people of misguidance and the disbelievers] who expose themselves to the sublimity of Your grandeur, and expose themselves to Your might and majesty, and exposed themselves to the honour of Your Divinity (ulūhiyyah), and expose themselves to the pity of Your Lordship (rubūbiyyah) in their disbelief, rebellion and denial of Your promise. [Hallowed are You!]

We hallow Your absolute justice, and Your absolute beauty, and Your absolute mercy, an absolute hallowing (taqdīs) against [the notion of] absolute oppression the like of this, and absolute ugliness the like of this.

And we believe with all of our strength that the testimony of those hundreds of thousands and trustworthy messengers and prophets (anbiyā'), purified ones (aṣfiyā') and saints (awliyā') who are, true limitless proclaimers of Your kingdom, by means of certainty by reality itself (ḥaqq al-yaqīn), certainty by vision (‘ayn al-yaqīn) and certainty by knowledge (‘ilm al-yaqīn), to the treasuries of Your mercy in the hereafter, and to the treasures of Your benefactions in the world of eternity, and to the wonderful and beautiful manifestations of Your Beautiful Names (Al-Asmāu’l-Ḥusnā), that become fully manifested [in their perfection] in the Abode of Bliss; [we believe that their testimony] is true and real, and that their allusions are truthful and in agreement, and their glad tidings are genuine and actual.

And they believe that the greatest ray of the Name ‘the Real’ (Al-Ḥaqq) - which is the origin, sun and protector of all realities - is this supreme reality of Resurrection, and they thus instruct Your servants in this reality, with Your command, within the sphere of truth, and they teach it to them as truth itself.

O Lord (Yā Rabb)! Grant us and grant the students of Risāle-i Nūr (The Book of Light) perfect faith, and a good end, by the right and the sanctity of the lessons and teachings of those [people] and grant us their intercession, Āmīn.

Just as all of the evidences and proofs that establish the truthfulness of the Qur’ān and indeed the truthfulness of all of the heavenly books and all of the miracles and proofs that establish the prophethood of Ḥabībullāh (Allāh’s Beloved One) (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) and indeed the prophethood of all of the prophets simultaneously demonstrate the actuality of the hereafter that constitutes the greatest claim [of those books and prophets], so too do the majority of the evidences and proofs that testify to the existence and unicity (waḥdah) of the Necessary Being (Al-Wājibu’l-Wujūd) and testify at the same time to the existence and opening of the abode of bliss and the world of eternity, both of which are the vastest loci of manifestation of lordship (rubūbiyyah) and divinity (ulūhiyyah).

As it will be elucidated and proved in the forthcoming stations, the Qualities and Glorious States (shu'ūnāt) of the Necessary Being’s Essence like His existence and all of His Attributes (ṣifāt), and the majority of His Names, lordship, divinity, mercy, favour, wisdom and justice - to the degree of necessity - require the hereafter, and to the degree of obligation entail an eternal world, and to the degree of exigency demands the Resurrection and the Gathering (al-ḥashr) for the sake of reward and punishment.

Yes; and since one Allāh, Who is Beginninglessly Eternal (azalī) and Endlessly Eternal (abadī), exists, there can be no doubt that the hereafter that is the eternal locus of the kingdom of His Divinity exists. And since an absolute lordship of singular grandeur, wisdom and compassion exists and is beheld in this universe and within living creatures, there can be no doubt that there will be an eternal abode of bliss that saves the glory of that lordship from ruin, its wisdom from futility, its compassion from tyranny; and [that abode of bliss] shall be entered.

And since a limitless diversity of the bestowal of blessings, benefactions, kindness, generosity, favour and mercy that all see with their own eyes reveal - to such intellects as have not been extinguished and such hearts as have not died - the existence, behind the veil of the unseen, of a Merciful and Compassionate Being, there can be no doubt that there is and there will be an enduring life in an enduring world, that will save the bestowal

of blessings from mockery, and beneficence from deception, and favour from enmity, and mercy from torment, and kindness and generosity from betrayal, and that will make beneficence [true] beneficence, and blessing into [true] blessing.

And since in the season of spring and upon the narrow page of this earth a pen of power, which has before our eyes written hundreds of thousands of books interposed upon one another without error, is tirelessly working; and since the Owner of that pen has vowed and promised one hundred thousand times and said, ‘I will write a magnificent and an immortal book for you in a vast place, by a means easier than the book of the spring that was written in this narrow place and in an intermeshed and interposing fashion, and I will let you read it.’ And in all of His decrees He speaks about that book. There can be no doubt whatsoever and in any case that the original copy of that book has been written, and that its Footnotes, too, will be written by means of the Resurrection and Gathering, and that the book of deeds of all beings will be recorded [at that time].

And since this world, from the perspective of the multiplicity of creatures living within it and in terms of its being the dwelling place, wellspring, factory, exhibition and place of gathering for hundreds of thousands of constantly changing species of living creatures and spirit-endowed beings, [and in terms of its being] the heart, centre, encapsulation and final outcome of the universe as well as the reason for its creation, this earth must be of great importance, such that despite its small size it is equated to these vast heavens, and such that in the heavenly edicts it is continually said, رَبُّ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ . (a)

And since, as a species, the son of Ādam rules the entirety of the earth, of such [an elevated] quiddity, and use the majority of the creatures therein at will, and subjects most of the living beings therein [to his will], making them to rally around him, and orders the majority of the works of art existing therein, then displaying them and ornamenting them with superlative brilliance and beauty, all engineered by his desires and by the laws [that stem from] his needs; [and since he] gathers the extremely precious species together in particular places as if he is arranging them in a list, and he ornaments them such that he acquires a very great importance and value, attracting the attention not only of men and

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a Lord of the heavens and the earth. (Qur’ān: al-Râ‘d, 13:16) 

jinn, but the attention and appreciation of the inhabitants of the heavens and of this universe, and [even] the admiring gaze of the Possessor of the universe; [and since] from this perspective, by means of his sciences and his arts he manifests the fact of his being the wisdom underlying the creation of this universe, its supreme outcome and precious fruit and the guardian (khalīfa) of the earth; and he is made to remain in the world and have his punishment delayed despite his rebellion and disbelief; for in terms of [his] worldly [existence] he displays and orders the miraculous works of art of the Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘) of the world in a beautiful fashion, and is thus given respite for this service of him, and made to be successful.

And since there is a superlatively powerful, wise, compassionate Disposer, Who has made the vast globe for man - entirely beyond [man’s] strength and choice, for that is his nature, and despite his being very weak, fragile and powerless in his disposition and constitution, and his having endless needs and pains despite his extreme weakness and poverty... [I am saying that] He [the Disposer] has made the vast globe a storehouse of every type of the minerals that mankind needs, and a repository of every type of food, and a store comprising every type of the goods that are to man’s liking; this is how He looks after the species of man, feeding them and giving them all that they desire.

And since a Lord of this nature loves man, and endears Himself to man; and since He is Eternal, and possesses eternal worlds, and does all that He does with justice, and He does everything with wisdom; and since the short life of this world and the very short human lifespan and this temporary, transient earth [are too small to] accommodate the sublimity of the kingdom of that Beginninglessly Eternal Ruler (Al-Ḥakīmu’l-Azalī) and the eternality of His rulership; [and since] the very great oppression and rebellion that are perpetrated by the mankind and that are antithetical (munāfī) and contrary (mukhālif) to the harmonious order, justice, balance and exquisite beauty of the universe, and man’s betrayal, denial and disbelief in the Benefactor (Al-Mun‘im) of the blessings [that man enjoys] and in He Who compassionately provides for him - since all of this [wrongdoing] remains unpunished in this world, the tyrant, oppressor living out his life in comfort, and the helpless and oppressed person living out his life facing hardships. The quiddity of absolute justice the effects of which can be seen throughout the entire universe is totally incompatible with [the notion of]

the equality, in death, of tyrant oppressors and helpless victims oppressed, without their being brought back to life again - it can neither bear [such a notion] nor allow it.

And since, of all the universe, the Owner of the universe has chosen the earth, and of the earth humankind, and He has bestowed a very great station and importance upon him; [and since] of the species of man He has chosen the prophets (anbiyā') and the saints (awliyā') and purified ones (aṣfiyā'), who are the true men, and who act concordant with the purposes of His Lordship, and who endear themselves to Him with faith and submission such that He addresses them and makes them His friends, and honours them with miracles and success, and sends down heavenly blows with which to punish their enemies; similarly, of all His valuable and beloved friends He has chosen their leader and their pride, Muḥammad (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) and He has by means of his light illuminated throughout the long centuries half of the momentous globe, and a fifth of momentous humanity. All [of His] purposes become revealed in him, and in his religion and his Qur’ān, such that it is as if the very universe was created for his sake. And he was given a life as short as sixty three years full of hardships and difficult struggles despite it being the case that he is deserving of and fitting for receiving reward for his very many precious and limitless services that could earn him millions of years in limitless time.

Now I wonder! Is there any possibility or any chance or would it be appropriate in any way whatever that this Personage not be resurrected along with all of his peers and loved ones? And that he not now be alive and not remain alive in his spirit (rūḥ)? And that he and his peers be annihilated in an eternal execution? Far be it from them a hundred thousand times, far be it from them!

Yes; the whole universe and the very essence of this world claim his resurrection, and beseech the Owner of the universe to bring him to life. And it being the case that thirty three immense consensuses have been established in, ‘The Supreme Sign’ epistle, which is ‘The Seventh Ray,’ each of which is as strong as a mountain, that this universe issued from a single hand and that it is the property of one Who is One.

Each of them showed self-evidently the unicity (waḥdah) and singularity (aḥadiyyah) of Allāh, the two loci of Divine perfection, such that it is as if all the elements of the universe become by means of that unicity

(waḥdah) and singularity (aḥadiyyah) soldiers under His orders, and officials subjected to that One; [and consensus that] the advent of the hereafter will save His perfections from ruin, and His absolute justice from absolute oppression in mockery, and His universal wisdom from futility in foolishness, and His vast mercy from torture in capricious entertainment, and the might of His power from powerlessness in humiliation, for all of them are acquitted from being so. Surely and most surely and in any case whatever, the Doomsday will happen, the Resurrection and Gathering will take place, an abode of retribution and of reward will be opened in accordance with the realities alluded to in the ten instances of ‘since’ [mentioned above] within hundreds of subtle points related to faith in Allāh (al-īmānu billāh). So that the aforementioned importance and centrality of the earth be realised, as well as the importance and value of man. And so that the said justice, wisdom, mercy and kingdom - of the Creator (Al-Khāliq) and the Lord (Al-Rabb) of the earth and man, the Wise Disposer (Al-Mutaṣarrifu’l-Ḥakīm) - be established, and so that the aforementioned true friends and yearners of that Eternal Lord are saved from eternal execution, and so that the greatest and most valuable of those friends can meet their reward for their holy services, that please the entire universe, and make it pleased and indebted; and so that the perfections of the Endlessly Eternal Sultan (As-Sulṭānu’l-Abadī) be acquitted from, hallowed beyond and dissociated from any deficiencies or shortcomings, and His power from powerlessness, and His wisdom from foolishness, and His justice from oppression. In short, since Allāh exists, there can be no doubt that the hereafter exists.

And just as the three aforementioned articles of belief prove them [true], and by means of all of their evidences that testify to it [true] and demonstrate it, so too do two [other] articles of faith,

وبملائكته وبالقدر خيره وشره من الله تعالى (a)

entail the Resurrection and powerfully bear witness and demonstrate the eternal world, as follows:

All of the evidences, limitless instances of witnessing and communications that prove the existence of the angels and of the vocation of their servanthood (‘ubūdiyyah), also demonstrate to the existence of the world of spirits, the world of the unseen, the eternal world, the world of the hereafter and to the Abode of Bliss that will come to be inhabited by jinn and

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a Faith in the angels, and destiny, both that favourable (khayr) and that unfavourable (sharr), being from Allāh 

men - to the existence of paradise and hell. For it is possible for the angels to behold these worlds [of the unseen] and enter into it through Divine permission, and every one of the archangels (al-malāikatu’l-muqarrabūn) who meet with human beings, like Jabrā'īl (Gabriel) (‘alayhissalām), report in agreement of the existence of the worlds [of hereafter] that we have mentioned, and that they journey in those worlds. Thus, just as we know self-evidently that the mainland of America, that we have never seen, exists, by means of the reports of those who come from there, similarly, one has to believe, with the same certainty, in the existence of the world of eternity and the world of the hereafter, and heaven and hell - by means of the reports of the angels that have the power of one hundred unanimous testimonies. And this is what we believe.

What is more, all of the evidences that establish the article of ‘faith in destiny,’ in ‘The Epistle of Destiny,’ which is ‘The Twenty-sixth Word,’ also demonstrates the Resurrection and the spreading out of the scrolls, and to the Scale of Actions (muwāzanatu’l-a‘māl) in the Great Balance (al-mīzānu’l-akbar); for the recording in front of our very eyes of the destined proportions of all thing upon the tablets of harmonious order and balance, and the inscribing of all that takes place during the life of all living creatures upon their memories and within their seeds, and upon all other tablets of representation, and the recording of the books of deeds of every spirit-endowed creature - and especially man - and their becoming established in the preserved tablets; there can be no doubt that the like of this all-encompassing predestination, wise specification (pre-ordaining), precise recording and preservative writing be for any other purpose but for perpetual reward and punishment subsequent to a universal hearing in the Supreme Court of Justice.

Otherwise, that all-encompassing and most precise determination and that preservation would be totally meaningless and of no benefit, and they would be antithetical to wisdom and truth; and were the Resurrection not to take place, all of the established meanings contained in the book of the universe that were written by the pen of predestination would be corrupted, and it is not possible in any way whatever [that it should not take place]. That probability is impossible, and indeed mindless blabbering like denial of the existence of this universe.

The upshot: The five articles of faith along with all of their evidences demonstrate the existence and occurrence of the Resurrection and Gathering 

and to the existence of the Abode of the Hereafter and its opening, and they [indeed] necessitate them, bear witness to them, and demand them. And because underlying this reality of the Resurrection are sublime pillars and proofs that can never be shaken, and that exist in total concordance with the sublimity of the Resurrection, about a third of the Qur’ān of Miraculous Exposition (Al-Qur’ānu’l-Mu‘jizu’l-Bayān) is devoted to the Resurrection and the hereafter, and it makes them into the foundation stone of all of its realities and the base of its fundamental bases, and it builds all things upon them.

The introduction ends here.

Sa‘īdu’n-Nursī

Of “Nine Stations” (Maqāmāt) about the verses at the beginning,

that miraculously indicate to the nine levelled proofs of hereafter, below is:

The First Maqām

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ (a)

فَسُبْحَانَ اللهِ حِينَ تُمْسُونَ وَحِينَ تُصْبِحُونَ * وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ فِي السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَعَشِيّاً وَحِينَ تُظْهِرُونَ * يُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَيُخْرِجُ الْمَيِّتَ مِنَ الْحَيِّ وَيُحْيِي الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَكَذَلِكَ تُخْرَجُونَ (b)

[This maqām is] about the edict of Resurrection in the above passage. The crystal clear proofs and most certain evidences shown here in the above passage will be expounded and explained inshā'Allāhu'r-Raḥmān (if the Most Merciful Allāh wills).

Those stations have not been written yet.

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a In the Name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

b So glorify Allāh when you enter the night and when you enter the morning (perform Sunset, Evening and Morning Prayers)! Unto Him be praise in the heavens and the earth! - and at the sun's decline and in the noonday (Glorify Allāh! Perform Afternoon and Noon Prayers)! He brings forth the living from the dead, and He brings forth the dead from the living, and He revives the earth after her death. And even so will you be brought forth (from your graves). (Qur’ān: al-Rūm, 30:17-19) 

The Tenth Proof of Faith

The First Station of the Twentieth Letter

بِاسْمِهِ وَإِن مِّن شَيْءٍ إِلاَّ يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ (a)

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ (b)

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ 1 وَحْدَهُ 2 لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ 3 لَهُ المُلْكُ 4 وَلَهُ الحَمْدُ 5 يُحْيِي 6 وَيُمِيتُ 7

وَهُوَ حَيٌّ لاَ يَمُوتُ 8 بِيَدِهِ الخَيْرُ 9 وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ 10 وَإِلَيْهِ المَصِيرُ 11 (c)

The repetition of this phrase of Divine unity after the Dawn and Sunset Prayers contains abundant virtues, and [the phrase] carries the degree of the Supreme Name (Al-Ismu’l-A‘ẓam), as has been related in an authentic narration. It comprises eleven words, and the each of its words contains [special] good news and glad tidings and one of the degrees of the unity of Lordship (rubūbiyyah) - within it are the grandeur of oneness and the perfection of unity, within the secret of the Supreme Name that it contains.

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a In His Name, and there is nothing but that it glorifies with His praise.

b In the Name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

c There is no god but Allāh, alone without partner, His is the kingdom, and His is the praise, He gives life and causes death, but He is Living and does not die, in His hand is all good, and He has power over all things - and unto Him is the final end. 

In fulfilment of a previous promise, here will we set down an index for it in the form of a concise encapsulation made up of “Two Stations” and “An Introduction”, entrusting the [full] elucidation of these sublime, celestial realities to the other ‘words.’ (63)

Introduction: O man! Know with certainty that the most elevated objective of creation and that the loftiest outcome of the innate disposition is faith in Allāh (al-īmānu billāh), and that the highest degree of humanness and the greatest station of humanity is the knowledge of Allāh (ma‘rifatullāh) contained within faith in Allāh; and that the most dazzling bliss and the sweetest blessings for man and jinn is the love of Allāh (muḥabbatullāh) latent in the knowledge of Allāh, and that the purest happiness for man’s spirit and the most unsullied joy for man’s heart lies in the spiritual ecstasy latent in that love of Allāh.

Yes, all true bliss, pure happiness, sweet blessings, and unsullied ecstasy are certainly in knowledge of Allāh. There can be no bliss nor happiness nor blessings nor ecstasy without them both. He who knows Allāh and loves Him attains infinite bliss, blessings, lights and secrets either potentially or actually. He who does not truly know Him nor truly love Him is materially and spiritually afflicted with infinite wretchedness, pains and delusions.

Yes, in this miserable world amongst these miserable, lost people and in a fruitless life, what is powerless, destitute man worth without an owner and protector, even were he to become the king of the entire world?

This is such that all understand just how helpless and astray man is in this sad, transient world amongst forlorn humankind, should he not know his Master nor find his Owner.

Yet if he finds his Master and knows his Owner, he then takes refuge in His mercy and relies upon His power, and this lonely world turns into a meadow of beauty, and becomes a market for trade.

The First Station: Each one of the eleven clauses in this phrase of Divine unity is an instance of glad tidings, and within that good news there is a healing, and within that healing a spiritual ecstasy.

The first clause: لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ “there is no god but Allāh” contains the following instance of glad tidings: Man’s spirit, which has illimitable needs, and which is the target of the attacks of boundless enemies, finds within

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63. "Other ‘words’" here refers to the other epistles of The Book of Light. 

this clause a means of help that opens the gates of the treasuries of a mercy that will make all of its needs available to it, and it finds within this clause a tower of strength that introduces [his spirit] to He Whom it worships, to its Creator, the Possessor of Absolute Power Who protects it from the iniquities of all of its enemies. And [this clause] shows it who its Owner is and guides it to its Owner, and in this guidance, it saves the heart from absolute loneliness, and the spirit from painful sorrow, and it guarantees endless joy and perpetual happiness [for the both of them].

The second clause: وَحْدَهُ “alone” This clause contains an instance of glad tidings replete with healing and bliss; namely that man’s spirit and heart, which are attached and connected to the majority of species of created beings, and that have arrived at the extreme of drowning, in misery and confusion, on account of those attachments and connections, find in the clause وَحْدَهُ a refuge and sanctuary that rescues them from all of that misery and confusion.

That is, وَحْدَهُ “alone” is implicitly saying, “Allāh is One, so do not tire yourself by requesting anything from anyone other than Him, and do not make yourself indebted to anyone by degrading yourself before them, and do not bow your head in flattery of them, and do not exhaust yourself by running after them, and do not shake from fear of them. For the King of the universe is One, and He possesses the keys of all things, and the reins of all matters are in His hand. In accordance with His command do all things become realised, [and all problems solved]. So if you have found Him, you will have found all that you look for, and you will have been saved from limitless indebtedness and anxieties.”

The third clause: لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ “without partner.” That is to say, just as it is so that He has no partner in His Divinity (ulūhiyyah) and in His kingdom, and since Allāh is one there cannot be a multiplicity of deities, so too is it so that He has no partner in His Lordship (rubūbiyyah), actions and bringing of things into existence.

In some cases, it may be that a king is one is so far as he has no partners in his rulership, yet his officials are counted as partners in his enterprises - and they do not allow just anyone to enter into the presence [of the king]. They tell them, “Appeal to us [for whatever it is that you need].”

However, just as it is that the Majestic Truth Who is the King of Beginningless and Endless Eternity is without any partner in His kingdom,

so too is it that He has no need of helpers nor of partners in the enterprises of His Lordship (rubūbiyyah). Nothing can intervene in anything without His command, volition, might and strength.

Anyone may appeal to Him directly with their needs. Since He has no partner nor helper, never is it said, ‘Forbidden! You cannot enter into His presence,’ to the person who wishes to go to Him.

In this way does this clause bring glad tidings to man’s spirit, saying, ‘it is possible for the human spirit that has acquired faith to enter into the presence of the Beautiful, Possessor of Majesty (Al-Jamīlu Dhu’l-Jalāl), and the Almighty, Possessor of Perfection (Al-Qadīru Dhu’l-Kamāl), the Beginninglessly and Endlessly Eternal, and the Owner of treasuries of mercy, and the Protector of the treasures of bliss, without interference nor barrier nor resistance, in all of its states and during [the realisation of] all of its wishes, and in any time or place, and [it is possible] for it to bring up its needs, and it is possible for it to acquire complete delight and perfect happiness by entering into His mercy and relying upon His power.

The fourth clause: لَهُ المُلْكُ “His is the kingdom.” That is, the entirety of the kingdom is His, and you too are His property and His slave, working in His kingdom. This clause brings glad tidings that contain a healing and says: ‘O man! Do not think that you own yourself, for you cannot even administer yourself. That burden is heavy such that you cannot carry it by yourself. You cannot get out of the way of trials and tribulations, nor can you make that which you need become available to you. Thus, be not futilely in pain nor torture, for the kingdom belongs to someone else. That Owner is Almighty and Compassionate (Al-Qadīru wa’r-Raḥīm). Rely thus upon His power. Do not falsely accuse His mercy. Leave your worry and distress - stop and enjoy [your life], and leave trouble, and find bliss. [This clause] also says, ‘this universe, which you love and are spiritually attached to, and the wretchedness and misery of which pains you, and which you are unable to set right, is the property of one Who is Almighty and Compassionate - so give the property up to its owner, and entrust it to Him.

Do not burden yourself with its troubles and hardships, but enjoy its pleasures and its joys. He is Wise and Compassionate (Al-Ḥakīm wa’r-Raḥīm), and acts freely in His kingdom, directing it howsoever He wills.

If you become bewildered, say, like Ibrahim Hakki,

“Let us see what Mawlā does.

Beautiful it is, all that He does!”

Look then [at the universe and all of the events and upheavals in it] from the windows, but do not involve yourself in them.

The fifth clause: وَلَهُ الحَمْدُ “and His is the praise.” That is, all praise, extolment, glorification and gratitude are special to Him, and befit Him alone, [and He is the only One to Whom the] indebtedness [of creatures is due], which is to say that all blessings belong to Him, for they proceed and emanate from His treasure-house, and the treasure-house is perpetual.

Thus does this clause bring glad tidings and say, ‘O man! Be pained not by the passing away of blessings, for the treasuries of mercy are inexhaustible; and do not howl and wail because of the pain brought on by your thinking about the passing away of pleasure, for the fruits of those blessings are the fruits of infinite mercy, and the tree from which they come is ever-enduring, such that should a fruit pass away and evanesce, another will take its place. It is within your reach to increase the degree of pleasure involved in those blessings from one to one hundred, by means of your contemplating, in a state of praise of the Divine, the compliments of Divine mercy contained in the pleasure of blessings, [contemplation] which is a hundred degrees more pleasurable than the pleasure [of the blessings] itself.

Just as it is so that the taste of an apple that a glorious king has gifted to you makes you feel the pleasure of a Royal compliment one hundred times superior to the taste of an apple, if not one thousand apples, so too does the clause وَلَهُ الحَمْدُ “and His is the praise” open the door of a spiritual pleasure which is a thousand degrees more pleasurable than any [earthly] blessing - and this comes about through praise and gratitude, that is, through feeling the Divine bestowal of blessings within those blessings; that is to say, through having knowledge of the Bestower of Blessings (Al-Wahhāb) and through contemplating His outpourings; that is to say, through meditating on the instances of Divine compliments of mercy and the care and concern of His Compassion, and the perpetual nature of His bestowal of blessings.

The sixth clause: يُحْيِي “He gives life.” That is, it is He Who bestows life, and He is the One Who perpetuates it by means of the provision [that He gives], and He it is Who prepares that which is necessary for life. Life’s lofty purposes return to Him, its most important outcomes are turned to Him - and ninety nine out of a hundred of its fruits pertain to Him.

Now, this clause addresses powerless, transient man, and brings glad tidings, saying, ‘O man! Do not tire yourself by carrying the heavy burdens of life upon your shoulders. Be not saddened by thinking about the transience of life. Do not manifest regret and sigh about your having come into this world, scrutinizing only the worldly and insignificant fruits rather, life’s machine that is latent in the ship of your body, is the property of the Living, the Self-subsistent Sustainer (Al-Ḥayyu’l-Qayyūm).

He it is Who provides its expenditures and necessities. And that life has a very great many purposes and outcomes, all of which are His property, and that return to Him and pertain to Him. On this ship, you are nothing but a [military] steersman - so carry out your duty in the very best way, and take your wages, and enjoy your life, and contemplate this ship of life - how precious it is! How many beautiful benefits does it hold! How Generous and Compassionate is the Owner of this ship! By means of this, be happy and have gratitude, and understand that whenever you uprightly carry out your duty all of the fruits that that ship yields will, in a certain way, be recorded in your books of deeds, and will realise an ever-enduring life for you, and will enliven you with eternal life.

The seventh clause: وَيُمِيتُ “and causes death.” That is, He is the One Who creates death, which is to say that He releases from the duty of life. He changes your place from this transient world to the world of eternity. He relieves and frees from the burden and weight of service; that is to say, he moves you from transient life to eternal life.

In this way does this clause call out to transient jinn and mankind, saying, 'Here are glad tidings for you! Death is not execution nor nothingness nor evanescence, nor extinction nor extinguishment - nor is it eternal separation, nor nonexistence, nor a chance event, nor a disappearance without there having been an agent who brings it about - no, it is a release brought about by a Wise and Compassionate Agent, and is a changing of location, and it is being driven towards endless bliss to our original homeland, and

the door of arrival to the isthmus world which is the gathering place of ninety nine out of every hundred beloved friends.'

The eighth clause: لاَيَمُوتُ وَهُوَحَيٌّ “but He is Living and does not die.” That is, the Perpetually Worshipped One and the Permanently Loved One, who is the possessor of beauty, perfection and beneficence, the perfection, beauty and beneficence of Whom maximally surpasses the perfection, beauty and beneficence seen in the beings existing in the universe and constitute the means of love [of Him] - a single touch of Whose Beauty frees one from need of any other objects of love - has a beginninglessly and endlessly eternal and perpetual life; He is transcendent beyond any of the blemishes of evanescence and transience, and free from the symptoms of deficiency or inadequacy.

This clause, then, proclaims to jinn and men and to all conscious beings, and to the people of love and ecstatic spiritual yearning: Here are glad tidings for you! Yours is an Ever-abiding Beloved Who treats the wounds that arise from limitless numbers of separations from your loved ones, and applies ointment to them. As long as it is so that He exists and is eternal, worry not, nor be you anxious, whatever might afflict others; for the beauty and beneficence and grace and perfection in those things you love, qualities that are the reason that you love them, are nothing but shadows of an exceedingly weak shadow of the manifestation of the eternal beauty of that Eternal Beloved, that have pierced through and dropped down through numerous veils and covers. Thus, do not let the passing away of those things you love pain you, for they are like mirrors, and the mirrors’ being replaced and changed only renews and beautifies the manifestation of magnificence and resplendence of that Divine beauty - as long as He exists, everything exists.”

The ninth clause: بِيَدِهِ الخَيْرُ “in His hand is all good.” That is to say that all good is in his hands, and all of the good actions you do are both from Him and to Him - all of the righteous actions that you do are recorded with Him.

This clause calls out to jinn and men and brings them glad tidings saying: O wretched ones! When you go to your grave, do not say, ‘Woe is me! Our wealth has become nothing but a memory, and all of our striving has come to naught. We have left this beautiful, commodious world and entered the tight earth.’ Do not say, ‘woe to me,’ nor cry out sorrowfully,

for all of your business and concerns have been preserved, and all of your works written down, and all of your services recorded.

The Majestic Essence (Allāhu Dhu’l-Jalāl) is going to recompense you for your services, and He in Whose hand is all good, and Who has the power to bring about all good actions, will draw you to Him and make you to wait temporarily under the earth, and then will He summon you to His presence.

Glad tidings to you, then, for you have completed your services and duties, and your hardships and troubles have come to an end, and you are journeying and proceeding towards repose and mercy - the hardship of service has come to an end, and you are on your way to take your wages.

Yes, the Almighty, Possessor of Majesty Who safeguards seeds and kernels - which are scrolls of last spring’s book of deeds, and little containers of their services - preserves them and distributes them in the next spring in a fashion even more magnificent and resplendent and indeed higher yielding than the original - yes, that Almighty Possessor of Majesty certainly safeguards the fruits of your life likewise, and will cause many rewards to rain down upon you in return for your services.

The tenth clause: وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ “and He has power over all things.” That is, He is One and Singular; He has power to do all things and nothing burdens Him, such that the creation of the entire spring is as easy for Him as the creation of a single flower. The creation of Paradise is as easy and simple as the creation of the spring. All of His illimitable works of art that He originates and creates, regeneratively and continually every day and every year and in every age, bear witness with infinite tongues to His infinite power.

It is thus that this clause too brings glad tidings, saying, “O man! The services that you have carried out and the servanthood that you have offered will not be in vain, for a realm of recompense and a place of bliss has been prepared for you. An eternal paradise awaits you, a replacement for this transient world of yours. Believe then and trust in the promise of the Majestic Creator (Al-Khāliqu Dhu’l-Jalāl) Whom you worship and know, for it is impossible for Him to be unfaithful to His promise. In the first place, His power has no deficiency whatsoever, and [no form of] powerlessness can possibly intervene in His enterprises. He has the power to create Paradise for you just like He created your little back garden - and

indeed, He already has created it, and promised it to you, and since He has promised it, He will most certainly enter you into it.”

For by direct witnessing we see the fact that every year on the face of earth He gathers and scatters abroad more than three hundred thousand species of animals and plants according to a perfect order and balance, and with consummate speed and ease. There is no doubt that that Almighty Possessor of Majesty has the capability to be faithful to His promise.

And since He is the Absolutely Almighty, Who every year brings into existence thousands of forms of exemplars of the Resurrection and Paradise, and since He promises eternal bliss and gives the glad tidings of Paradise in all of His Royal, heavenly addresses, and since all of His actions are [carried out] with [complete] accuracy and seriousness, and since all perfections point and bear witness by the testimony of their effects to His infinite perfection, and to His having no deficiency whatever nor shortcoming, and since being unfaithful to one’s promise, doing the opposite of it, lying and deception are all extremely ugly characteristics, deficiency and a shortcoming, there can be no doubt that that Almighty Possessor of Majesty (Al-Qadīru Dhu’l-Jalāl), and that Wise Possessor of Perfection, and that Compassionate Possessor of Beauty (Ar-Raḥīmu Dhu’l-Jamāl) will certainly and most certainly be faithful to His promise, and will open the gates to eternal bliss, and will enter you, O people of faith, into the Paradise that is the original homeland of your father Ādam (‘alayhissalām).

The eleventh clause: وَإِلَيْهِ المَصِيرُ “and unto Him is the final end.” That is to say, the people who were sent to this world for the sake of trade and to serve as officials with important duties, this world that is the realm of examination and testing, after they have traded and finished their duties and completed their services, will return once more to their Majestic Creator Who sent them, and they will arrive to their Generous Master and reach Him. That is, after they depart from this transient realm, they will be honoured by the [Presence] of the Possessor of Grandeur in the eternal realm. That is, they will meet their Compassionate Lord (Ar-Rabbu’r-Raḥīm) without veil nor cover in the centre of His eternal kingdom, after having been freed from the chaos of causation and the veils of dark [causal] intermediaries. Every one will without intermediary know and find Who their Creator is, Who it is that they worship, Who it is that is their Lord, their Master and their Owner.

Thus does this clause bring glad tidings that surpass all glad tidings, saying, ‘O man, do you know where you are going? Where are you being driven to?’ And, as was said at the end of ‘the Thirty-second Word’: A thousand years of a happy life in this world neither equals nor resembles a single hour in Paradise, and a thousand years of the life of Paradise neither equals nor even resembles a single hour of the vision of His beauty; you are proceeding and journeying into the sphere of Divine mercy, and to the [lofty] station of the Presence of the Beautiful, Possessor of Majesty (Al-Jamīlu Dhu’l-Jalāl).

You are proceeding and journeying to the court of the Presence of the Perpetually Worshipped One and the Permanently Loved One, for Whom all of the metaphorical beloveds and beings existing in this world the beauty of which you crave after, and are tempted by, and long for, are nothing but kinds of shadows of the manifestation of His beauty and the comeliness of His Names, and for Whom Paradise with all of its elegances is nothing but one of the manifestations of His mercy, and for Whom all the species of longing, allurement and attraction are but one of the flashes of His love; you are being called to Paradise that is His eternal banquet hall - so enter the door of the grave laughing, not crying.

And this clause gives further glad tidings, saying, ‘O people, do not imagine that you are going to annihilation, nonexistence, loss, darkness, forgetting, rotting, decaying and drowning in multiplicity; nay, you are going to ever-abidingness, not to annihilation, and you are being driven to perpetual existence, not to nonexistence, and you will enter the realm of light, not to darknesses, and you are journeying towards the True Protector and Owner, and returning to the court of the Beginninglessly Eternal King. You will rejoice and rest in the sphere of Oneness, not drowning in multiplicity, and you have been turned in the direction of arrival and union, not separation.

Sa‘īdu’n-Nursī

The Eleventh Proof of Faith

The First Station of The Twenty-second Word

The Allegorical Story

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ (a)

وَيَضْرِبُ اللهُ الأَمْثَالَ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ (b)

وَتِلْكَ الْأَمْثَالُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ (c)

Two men bathed in a pool one day and lost their consciousness under some [unearthly] influence. When they opened their eyes, they found that they had been brought to a strange world, as if a kingdom in its perfect harmonious order, indeed as if a city, nay a palace - in the intensity of their bewilderment they turned about themselves and saw that from a certain angle, it appeared to be a vast world, and from another angle a harmoniously ordered kingdom, and from a third angle a magnificent city, and from a fourth angle a palace containing a magnificent world of singular sublimity. They began to roam in this strange world, and found that therein were creatures that spoke in a distinctive fashion, yet they did not know their languages; yet they understood from their gestures that they were involved in weighty matters and carried out momentous tasks.

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a In the Name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

b And Allāh strikes similitudes for men that they might reflect (Qur’ān: Ibrāhīm, 14:25)

c We strike those similitudes for men that they might reflect (Qur’ān: al-Ḥashr, 59:21) 

One of the men said to his friend, ‘there’s no doubt that there is someone who administers this strange world and an owner of this harmoniously ordered kingdom, a guardian of this magnificent city and a maker of this artfully crafted palace. It is incumbent upon us to strive to come to know his identity, for it seems that it is he who must have brought us here; if we don’t find out who he is, who else is going to help us? What can we hope from these powerless creatures the language of whom we do not know and who do not listen to us? The one who has made an immense world in the form of a kingdom, and in the style of a city and the shape of a palace, and who has filled it from end to end with masterful things and decorated it with all types of ornaments, and furnished it with lesson-bearing miracles, must indubitably request something from us and from those who come here. We must thus find out who he is and recognise him. And also we should find out what it is that he asks of us.’

The other man said, ‘I simply don’t believe that there is such a person as the one you are speaking about, and that he alone administers this whole world.’

His friend answered him saying, ‘there is no benefit [for us] whatsoever should we not try to find out who he is, and attach no importance to him. If there is harm in [not doing this], the harm is great indeed. Should we strive to come to know him, the difficulty involved in doing so is very light. If there is benefit in doing so, it is great indeed. It would therefore not be intelligent at all for us not to concern ourselves with him.’

The unruly, stray man then said, ‘I find all my comfort and relaxation in not thinking about it at all. What’s more, I’m not going to occupy myself with matters like these that my mind cannot reach. All of these matters are random, and in complete confusion. They come about of themselves.What have I got to do with all this?’

His sensible friend said, ‘your waywardness is going to expose me and many others like me to tribulations. For sometimes a whole county is destroyed because of one person with bad manners.’ Again, that reckless fool turned and said, ‘either certainly prove to me that this great kingdom has a single owner and a maker, or leave me be.’

This friend answered him, saying, ‘since your stubbornness has reached the degree of foolishness, and [since] with this stubbornness of yours, you might drive us and perhaps even the entire kingdom to destruction.

I will show you “Twelve Proofs” that there exists a single maker of this palace-like world and of this city-like kingdom, and that the one who directs all matters therein is no other than that same maker - and that he has no deficiencies whatever - and that this maker, who we do not see, does see us and all things, and hears our words and the words of all things; and that everything he does is a miracle and a breaking of accustomed norms, and that all of those creatures that we see but do not understand their languages are employees of his.

The First Proof: Come, look to every place and carefully scrutinise all things. There exists an unseen hand that works in all of those matters, for the tiny thing - as small as a seed - that does not even have a penny’s worth of strength, (Footnote1) carries thousands of kilos of weight upon its back. Things that do not have even an atom’s weight of consciousness (Footnote2) carry out their affairs with surpassing wisdom. It must thus be the case that none of those things bring about these matters of their own accord, but that someone who possesses unseen power must direct them. Were all of these things to be operating of their own accord, it would entail that every single thing that we have witnessed from end to end of this kingdom must be a miracle-bearing marvel - and this is [utter] sophistry.

The Second Proof: Come and scrutinise the things that ornament these plains, these open places and these way stations - upon each of them are things that give news of that hidden entity. It is as if each [of those things] is an insignia and stamp that gives news of that unseen entity. Here are [the effects of that entity] before your eyes - behold what they make out of a penny’s weight of cotton. (Footnote3) Behold how many cloth and muslin shawls

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Footnote 1: An allusion to the acorns that carry trees upon their heads

Footnote 2: An allusion to delicate plants - like the grapevine, which are not held up on their own and that do not carry their fruits - stretching out their elegantly subtle hands to the trees and wrapping themselves around them, [thereby] making the [trees] to bear [the vine's] burdens.

Footnote 3: This is an allusion to seeds. For example, the way in which a particle-like opium seed, a penny-like apricot kernel and the melon seed come from the treasury of mercy with leaves woven more excellently than cloth, and white and yellow flowers whiter than muslin, and fruits sweeter than halva, and more delicious and exquisite than koftas (meatballs) and [the finest] tinned foods, [and how] they are presented to us.

and embroidered cloth they make from the flowers that come out of them.

Look how much sweets and delicious round kofta is made from them, such that were thousands of people the like of us to wear them and eat them, they would suffice. Then, look how [that entity] has taken this iron, earth, water, coal, copper, silver and gold into its unseen clutches, and has made them into a piece of meat. (Footnote1) Just behold and see this.

Thus, O brainless one! These matters are particular to such an entity that this entire kingdom, with all its parts, exists under the miracle of his power. They submit to all of his wishes.

The Third Proof: Come and look at these moving artful works of his, (Footnote2) for each of them has been created in a [particular] style such that it is as if it is a tiny copy of this vast palace. All that is in this palace exists in those little moving machines. Is it at all possible that anyone other than the maker of this palace could come and incorporate this marvellous palace into a little machine? And is it at all possible for there to exist chance and futile elements in a machine as small as tin when it contains the entire world inside of it?

Thus, the artful machines that we behold are all like one of the stamps of this hidden entity, and indeed an inviting crier and an advertisement flyer that say, in the language of its state (lisānu’l-ḥāl), ‘we are the works of art of he who made this whole world of ours with ease, just as he made us and brought us into existence with ease.’

The Fourth Proof: O obstinate friend! Come, I will show you something more amazing even than that. Look, all of these events and things in this kingdom change and are replaced, remaining not in one single state. Reflect thus, upon the fact that the inanimate bodies and unconscious containers that we behold have taken on the form of an absolute ruler. It is as if every single thing rules everything else.

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Footnote 1: An allusion to the creation of animals' bodies from the elements, and to the bringing of living creatures into existence from a drop of sperm.

Footnote 2: This is an allusion to animals and mankind. It is as if the model of everything in this universe exists in man, for animals are a miniaturised index of this world, and man's quiddity (māhiyyah) is a miniaturised exemplar of this universe.

Now look to this machine (Footnote1) near us. It is as if it commands, and the crucial necessities and materials for its work and ornamentation [all] hasten to it coming from places afar.

Now, look over there! It is as if this unconscious body (Footnote2) is giving a signal, making the vastest of bodies into its servant, and making them to work at its own particular tasks. Draw your own conclusions about all the rest of these matters and things. It is as if all things subjugate all other creatures in this world. Now, should you not admit of the existence of this unseen entity, you will have to ascribe all of the skills, creative wonders and perfections of this entity, in the stones, earth, animals and creatures of this kingdom the like of mankind to each of those things, so that instead of the single miracle-wielding maker whom your mind deems improbable, you will have to admit the existence of billions of miracle-wielding makers the like of him, all of which are [simultaneously] opposite to one another, as well as being each other’s equal, [whilst] being intermeshed with one another, all without this harmonious order being corrupted, or [the operation of] affairs being impaired. The fact is, were two fingers to interfere in this vast kingdom they would cause corruption, for should there be two chiefs in a village, two governors in a city and two kings in a kingdom, they would cause disorder therein - how then could illimitable absolute rulers be in harmony?

The Fifth Proof: O friend suffering from satanic insinuations (waswasa)! Come, and reflect upon the inscriptions in this great palace. Look to the ornamentation throughout the entirety of this city, and behold the systemisations of this whole kingdom. Meditate upon the creative wonders existing throughout this entire world!

Now look, were it the case that the pen of the hidden being who possesses infinite miracles and skills to not be working, and were these inscriptions to be ascribed to unconscious [independent] causes, to blind chance

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Footnote 1: The machine here is an allusion to fruit-yielding trees, for they weave their marvellous leaves, flowers and fruits, and they decorate them, ripen them, and stretch them out to us, quite as if they carry hundreds of workshops and factories upon their delicate branches; the fact is that the towering trees, like the pine tree and the tar tree, that have set up their workshops upon solid rocks, work with energy and perseverance.

Footnote 2: This is an allusion to grains, seeds and fly eggs. For example, flies leave their eggs upon a leaf of a black tree, and it is as if that vast tree turns its leaves into a mother's womb, a cradle and a repository filled with honey-like nourishment. It is as if this tree - that does not give fruit - gives in this way spirit-bearing fruit.

and deaf ‘nature’, it would have to be the case that every single stone and every single plant in that kingdom would have to itself be a miracle-wielding inscriber, and wonder-working writer, in order to be able to write a thousand books within a single letter, and to incorporate millions of works of art and creative wonders into a single inscription; for were you to look at the inscriptions upon these stones, (Footnote1) you would see that each one of them contains all of the inscriptions in that palace, all of the laws and systemisations of this city, and all of the programmes for the formation [of entities] in that kingdom.

Thus, the making of those inscriptions is a marvellous just as is the making of this entire kingdom. Therefore, every single inscription and work of art is an advertisement flyer and seal of this unseen entity. It being so that there is not a letter but that it points to its writer, and no masterful inscription but that it proclaims [the existence] of its inscriber. How then for an inscriber who has written a vast book within a single letter, and made a thousand inscriptions in a single inscription, but that he be not known through his writing and inscribing?

The Sixth Proof: Come, let us go to this expansive open plain. (Footnote2) There is a towering mountain in the middle of this plain. We will climb up it in order to render possible seeing everywhere around. And likewise will we take our precise binoculars along with us, to magnify everything; for in that marvellous kingdom marvellous things are coming to pass, and every hour events that never even occurred to us are taking place.

So look! These mountains, open plains and cities are suddenly changing. What a change! It is so much so that millions of other things, intermeshed with one another, are changing in a singularly orderly fashion. Extremely

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Footnote 1: This is an indication to the human being, who is the fruit of the tree of creation, and an indication to the fruits that carry the programmes and indexes of their trees, for in man's quiddity the pen of Divine power has written a summary of that which it has written in the great book of the world, and that which the pen of Divine destiny has written within the mountain-like tree it has also incorporated into its fruit as little as a nail.

Footnote 2: This is an allusion to the face of the earth in the seasons of spring and summer, when hundreds of thousands of different groups of creatures come into existence together in a single moment, interwoven with one another, and are written upon the face of the earth, and replaced in orderly fashion without error nor deficiency. Thousands of tables of the Divine mercy are laid and then cleared - and then other, fresh tables are brought, and each tree becomes like unto a servant, and every garden like a cooking pot.

astonishing transformations are taking place. It is quite like millions of diverse fabrics are woven together and become intermeshed with one another.

Look, the ornamented and blossoming things that we have become accustomed to and known have become hidden from view. Other things resembling them in quiddity but divergent in form have in orderly fashion taken their place. It is as if each of those mountains and open plains is a page upon which hundred of thousands of different and diverse books are written, indeed written without error or deficiency. Thus would it constitute a hundred degrees of impossibility for these things to have taken place of their own accord.

Yes, it would constitute a thousand degrees of impossibility for these artful and superlatively precise things to have come about of their own accord, for they point to their maker more than they do to themselves. It is only such a miracle wielding entity that could bring about these matters for whom nothing is difficult. The writing of one thousand books is as easy for him as writing a single letter. Along with all this, now look to every place; with wisdom does he put everything in the place appropriate to it, and honours all with kindness and generosity befitting them. He lifts veils and opens doors for all, such that he satiates the cravings of all, and he lays tables with munificent generosity, so that a table of blessings specifically befitting each of the peoples and animals and every group in that kingdom is conferred upon them, nay to every single individual in his particularity, in name and image.

Now, could there be an impossibility in this world more severe than this one - that is, that there exist chance events in the things that we behold, or that there be futility therein or without benefit [to anyone], or that a multiplicity of hands interfere therein, or that there not be a maker who has the power to do all things, or that all things be not subjected to him?

O friend therefore! If you dare, then so be it! Try to find an excuse against that!

The Seventh Proof: O friend! Come, for now we will leave these particulars, and reflect upon the relation of the states of the parts of this marvellous palatial kingdom to one another in so far as they relate to one another.

Now look, universal matters in this world are brought about according to a harmonious order, and revolutions affecting all things take place such

that all of the stones, earth and trees, and all other things all throughout this palace adhere to the universal regulations [in effect] throughout this entire world, and act in accordance with this as if they are agents with free will. Things that are most distant from one another strive to assist each other.

Now, look - there is a marvellous caravan (Footnote1) coming from the unseen, and its carriages resemble the trees and plants and mountains, and they carry trays for provision upon their heads. Now look, it comes with the sustenance of multifarious animals who wait upon this side.

And then look, just as this great electric lamp (Footnote2) within this dome heats [the carriages], so too does it cook all of their foods in a most excellent way, and the foods that it will cook are fastened to ropes (Footnote3) by an unseen hand and are presented before [animals]. Look moreover to this side, for you will see how two little pumps (Footnote4) filled with gentle nourishment have been suspended like two taps before the heads of these little, weak, thin animals that have neither power nor strength; and that powerless creature latches onto them with his mouth.

The upshot: All things in this whole world help one another, as if they all gaze at one another. They are hand in hand as if they see one another. They stand shoulder to shoulder to perfect the work of each of them. They work together in solidarity standing back to back. [On the basis of this], draw your own conclusions about everything else. There are innumerable examples of this. Now, all of these states constitute a conclusive demonstration - as conclusive as the fact that two by two equals four - that all things are subjugated to the Artful Maker (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘) of this marvellous palace - that is, to the Owner of this strange world. All things work for His sake. Everything is like an obedient soldier. All things rotate by His power and move at His command, everything is ordered by His wisdom. All things assist one another by His generosity. All things strive to help one another by His mercy - which is to say that they are made to strive to help [by a Power outside of themselves]. Thus, O companion! Say something contrary to this, if you have the insolence to do so.

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Footnote 1: The caravans of the trees and the plants that carry the sustenance of all animals.

Footnote 2: That great electric lamp is an allusion to the sun.

Footnote 3: The rope and the food attached to the rope are the delicate branches of the tree and their delicious fruits.

Footnote 4: Two pumps are an allusion to the breasts of mothers.

The Eighth Proof: Come, O simple-minded friend, you who believe that your are astute like my nafs! You do not wish to know the owner of this great palace, but every single thing is showing him, pointing to him and testifying to him. How then can you deny the testimony of all of these things? Then, deny the existence of this palace! And say that this world does not exist and that kingdom does not exist. Deny your own existence as well, and depart from the very sphere of existence - or return to your senses, and listen to me:

Now look, in this palace are sequenced elements and mines (Footnote) that encompass that kingdom. It is as if everything that issues from that kingdom is made from those materials. Thus, whoever owns those materials also owns the things that are made out of them. Whoever owns the farm also owns the harvest. Whoever owns the sea also owns all that is in it.

And look, these woven things, and embroidered, woven cloths are made from a single material. There can therefore be no doubt that the one who brings these materials, pulls them [together] and makes them into a piece of rope is also one, for this activity cannot permit any participation [from others]. Thus, all of these woven, artful things are particular to him alone.

Then look, every one of the genera of those manufactured, woven things exists in all parts of the kingdom, and is made and woven with others of its kind dispersed all together and intermeshed with one another, and in a single moment and one style. Thus, all these matters are the works of one who is one and singular, and move by means of a single command from him. Otherwise, agreement and concordance in a single moment, a single style, a single state, a single structure the like of this is impossible. So every one of these masterful things are like an advertisement flyer of that unseen entity showing him (the hidden owner of this palace). It is as if every piece of cloth ornamented with flowers, every ingenious machine and every delicious morsel is like a stamp of this miracle-wielding entity, and his seal and sign and insignia; in the language of their states (lisānu’l-ḥāl) every one of them says, ‘whoever artfully created me also owns the chests and stores that I am in.’

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Footnote: The elements and mines are an allusion to the elements, 'air, water, light and earth' - which have a great many harmoniously ordered duties, and that by the Lordly permission hasten to help all in need, and enter every place, and extend [a hand of] assistance by the Divine command, and to make available necessities for life, and to suckle living creatures - they that are the wellspring, birthplace and cradle of the weave and inscription of Divine works of art.

And every piece of embroidery says, ‘the one who wove me also has woven the shawl that I am upon,’ and every delicious morsel says, ‘the one who makes me and cooks me also owns the cooking pot that I am in,’ and every machine says, ‘whoever made me also makes the others like me spread all throughout the kingdom that I am in, and he is the one who raises us all around the entire kingdom. That is to say, he is moreover the owner of the kingdom. So, whoever is the owner of this kingdom and this palace can also be our owner.’

For example: Whoever wishes to become the owner of a single military belt or button belonging to the state must, in order to truly be its owner, also be the owner of all of the factories that make them. Otherwise, this belt and are confiscated from such a prattling fool, for they are the state’s property, and he is punished.

The upshot: Just as it is so that kingdom’s elements are materials encompassing the kingdom, and their Owner can not thus be other than He Who is One and Singular and owns this entire kingdom, so too is it so that because the creative wonders spread throughout all parts of the kingdom resemble one another and reveal a single stamp, all of the works of art spread throughout the kingdom point to their being artful creations of One Who rules over every single thing.

Now, O friend! Since there is a sign of unity and stamp of integrity, in that kingdom, that is, in this great palace - for although some things therein constitute a unity, they are all-encompassing, and although some other things are a multiplicity yet they show a type of unity, for they are similar, and exist in every place, unity reveals the [existence of] one [agent] - then, it must be the case that its artful maker, possessor and owner is also one.

Given this, reflect on the following that a thick rope (Footnote) from behind the veil of the unseen is brought out. Look, thousands of finer ropes have sprung from it. Look at the end of every rope. A diamond and a sign and beneficence and a gift have been fastened thereupon, giving gifts specific for all.

Now, are you aware just how much not recognising and not having gratitude for the One Who holds out marvellous benefactions and gifts

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Footnote: The thick rope is an allusion to a fruit bearing tree, and the thousands of ropes are an allusion to its branches, and the diamonds and the sign and the beneficence and the gifts upon the end of the ropes are an allusion to species of flowers and types of fruit.

the like of these to those creatures from behind the cover of this strange unseen world, constitutes lunatic conduct? For should you not recognise Him, you would be forced to say, ‘it is this rope itself that makes and gives out these diamonds as well as all of the rest of the gifts [tied to] its end.’ Every rope would therefore have to be afforded the status of kingship; yet [the truth is that] an unseen hand makes those ropes, and hangs them before our eyes.

Thus does every single thing in this palace point to this miracle-wielding Essence, indeed even more than it points to itself - if you recognise Him not, you will tumble down to a level one hundred degrees lower than that of the animals, because of your denial of all of these things.

The Ninth Proof: Come, O unthoughtful friend! You do not know the owner of this palace, nor do you want to know him, for you deem his existence improbable, and you deviate towards denial because of your mind’s inability to comprehend the wonders of his works of art and His glorious States. Whereas [the truth is that] the thing really [worthy of] being deemed improbable, the true problems and real difficulties and terrifying hardships lie in not recognising him. For if we know him, this palace and that world will be as easy [to understand the creation of] as the making of a single thing, and [this palace and world] become the locus of the accessibility (64) and abundance that we behold in front of us and before our eyes. And if we were not to recognise him and if he were not to exist, everything would become as difficult [to understand the creation of] as this palace. Everything, however, is as masterful as this palace; neither accessibility nor abundance would then remain. Rather, a single one of the things that we see now would not possibly come to our hands then, nor would it go to anybody’s hands. It is enough to look at the jar of sweets (Footnote) that is tied upon this rope. Were it so that it had not issued from his hidden, miraculous kitchen, we would not be able to buy it for a hundred gold coins, though we now buy it for forty copper coins.

Yes, all deeming improbable, problems, difficulties and destruction, nay impossibility, lie in having no knowledge of Him (ma‘rifatullāh), for He bestows life upon a tree from within a single root according to a single law and from a single centre, [such that] the formation of thousands of fruits

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Footnote: The jar is an allusion to the gifts of mercy like melon, watermelon and pomegranate, which are like jars of Divine power, and like coconut, which is like a box of milk.

64. Literal translation of this word is cheapness (Turkish: ucuzluk).

becomes as easy as that of a single fruit. Were the fruits of that tree to be linked to different centres and roots and subject to different laws, it would be as difficult [to conceive of the creation] of every fruit as it [now is to conceive] of the entire tree.

And if an army’s war equipment were all to be produced in a single centre, according to one regulation, and in a single factory, producing it would be as easy with respect to quantity as producing a single soldier’s equipment.

Whereas were the equipment of every soldier to be produced in different places and then to be brought, this would entail that for the production of every single soldier’s equipment, there should be as many factories necessary to produce equipment for the whole army.

And just as in these two examples; were the bringing into existence of all of these things in this artful palace and in this magnificent city and in this superior kingdom and in that magnificent world to be referred to one being, it would all be easy, and it would acquire a lightness such that it could be the cause of these infinite accessibilities, this abundance and this generosity that we witness. Otherwise, everything would be expensive and problematic such that were the entire world to be spent in payment for those things, it would not be feasible to acquire a single one of them.

The Tenth Proof: Come, O friend who has now come to some extent closer to justice! We have been here for fifteen days; (Footnote) if we [still] do not know this world’s regulations, nor recognise the king, we deserve to be punished, and no excuse will remain for us, for they do not interfere with us, and it is as if we were granted a reprieve for fifteen days. There is no doubt that we are not unrestricted or unrestrained, and so we cannot simply roam around like animals amongst these so delicate, artful, well-balanced, elegant, meaning-bearing works of art, and we are not allowed to lay waste, nor will they permit us to cause destruction; and there can be no doubt that the punishment of the majestic owner of that kingdom is also terrifying.

Now, understand just how that person [the king] is powerful, mighty and august from the following: he orders this vast world as if ordering a palace, and he puts it in motion as if putting a cogwheel in motion, and he directs that great kingdom as if directing the entirety of a house, in a manner in all things totally without deficiency.

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Footnote: Fifteen days is an allusion to the fifteen years which is the age of personal religious responsibility.

Look; this palace, this kingdom and this city are filled time after time in perfect harmonious order, and emptied with perfect wisdom, like the filling and emptying of a dish, and diverse foods are brought one after the other and supplied; one is lifted, and another brought, like the laying and clearing of a table, in a fashion such that it is all placed and taken away by an unseen hand. From end to end, the vast kingdom contains multifarious tables (Footnote1) - and you also behold this, and if you have an intellect, you will understand that within that astonishing grandeur lies a limitless, munificent generosity.

And moreover look: for just as all things bear witness to the kingship of this unseen person and to his unity, so too do these revolutions and real and successive transformations that constitute [endless] caravans coming one after another, that raise and lower veil after veil, bear witness to the perpetuity and ever-enduringness of this person. For the cause of transient things pass away alongside them, yet the things that we ascribe to those evanescent causes repeatedly come into existence even after the passing away of those causes. Thus, effects are not of those causes, but are of one who does not pass away. And just as bubbles upon the river have their place taken by other bubbles glistening just like those before them, and one understands from this that the one who makes the bubbles to glisten is the one who possesses a perpetual and lofty light, so too do the rapid changes that things undergo and the things that replace them being coloured with the same colour [as those previous to them] point to their being manifestations of one who is one and eternal, and who never passes away, and that they are his inscriptions, mirrors and creative wonders.

The Eleventh Proof: Come, O friend! I will now explain another decisive proof to you that is in the strength of ten of the previous proofs put together. Far away lies a peninsula, so come and let us ride a ship (Footnote2)

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Footnote 1: The tables are an allusion to the face of the earth in the summer when hundreds of tables of Divine mercy are laid, coming from the kitchen of mercy fresh, diverse and distinct. Every garden is a cooking pot, and every tree a vendor.

Footnote 2: The ship is an allusion to history and the peninsula is an allusion to the age of bliss. For if on the dark shore of this age we take off the attire that the civilisation without “c” (65) has dressed us in, and we enter the ocean of time and ride upon the ship of history and prophetic biography, and we go to the peninsula of the age of bliss, reach the domain of the Arabian Peninsula and visit the Pride of the World as he devotes himself to his vocation, we will understand that this person is himself a shining proof of Divine unity in so far as he has illuminated the face of the earth from end to end, and lit for us the two faces of past and future time, and eliminated the darknesses of disbelief (kufr) and misguidance (ḍalālah).

65. The civilisation without “c” is a rather pleasing compromise in our translation. The same part in Ottoman Turkish is “medeniyet without the letter mīm” which means deniyet, vulgarity or wickedness in English. This part could be alternatively translated as “wicked civilisation” but we preferred to use the author’s style to mirror the original text. When you drop the letter “c” at the beginning, you have a word sounding similar to “evilisation”.

and journey thereto, for the keys of this talisman-bearing world are there, and all look to that peninsula awaiting certain things from it, and they receive orders from there.

So look: here we are, journeying there, and now do we climb onto this peninsula. Look, there is a very great gathering taking place there, and it seems that an important celebration is going on, and it is as if all of the great figures in the kingdom have all come together here. Look carefully! This great gathering has a leader. Now come, let us try to get closer and closer. We must get to know this leader.

Now look, he possesses more than a thousand dazzling signs. (Footnote1)

Behold what powerful words he speaks! And how sweet are his words! Over the course of fifteen days, I learned something of their [this great gathering’s] words, so learn you from me, this leader is speaking about the miracle-wielding king of this kingdom, and he is saying, ‘this glorious king sent me to you.’ Behold, he manifests wonders that leave no doubt that he is the personal official of that king.

So pay attention, it is not only the creatures from this peninsula who are listening to what this leader is saying, but in miraculous fashion he makes the entire kingdom hear it. For however far away they might be, each of them tries to listen to what he is saying here.

And it is not only humanity who are listening to him, but also the animals and look even the mountains are listening to the commandments that he has come with as they quiver and move in their places. These trees rush to wherever he points to. He brings out water from wherever he wishes. He even makes his fingers like springs of al-Kawthar water, and he gives people therefrom to drink of the water of life.

So look at his mere gesturing the momentous lamp (Footnote2) within the high dome of this palace splits into two parts after having been one, and thus does this kingdom along with all of the beings therein come to know

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Footnote 1: The signs, which are one thousand in number, are the Aḥmadan miracles (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) which according to the verifying scholars do number one thousand.

Footnote 2: The momentous lamp is the moon that it became two parts by means of his gesturing. That is to say, just as Mawlānā JāmĪ said, ‘this untaught person who never wrote, wrote the letter alif with the pen of his finger upon the page of the sky, and made forty into two fifties.’ Before being split, it resembles the letter ‘mīm,’ which is forty, and after the splitting turned into two crescents, resembling two of the letter nūns, which are fifty. (66)

66. The Abjad numerals is a numeral system in which the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet are assigned numerical values.

that he is an official, and it hearkens and submits to him, as if it knows that he is the truthful, personal interpreter of his unseen, miracle-wielding king, and the crier of his kingdom, and the revealer of his talisman, and his trustworthy messenger who delivers his commandments.

Now, all of the people around him who are of sound mind confirm everything that this person says, and they say, ‘yes, yes! All that you say is true!’ Even the mountains and trees in that kingdom and the great lamp of light (Footnote1) that light up that whole kingdom say in their submission to his commands and gestures, ‘yes, yes! All you say is true!’

Now, O simple-minded friend! Is it at all possible in any circumstances whatever to find any lying or deception in what this luminous, excellent, and serious personality mentions? With all of his strength and under the confirmation of all of the distinguished people of this kingdom, this personality - who carries a thousand signs from the special treasury of this king - mentions a king of miracles, his attributes and commandments. [Would it be possible, then, to find any lying or deception in what he says about this miraculous king and what he confirms his attributes and the commandments that he delivers?] If this can be denied, this would entail the denial of the existence and reality of this palace and those lamps and this gathering.

If you can dare to do so, then so be it! Try to raise your finger of objection against this, and see how your finger is going to be broken by the power of the proof, and poked into your eye!

The Twelfth Proof: Come, O friend who has to some extent returned to his senses! I will now explain another proof to you with the strength of all of the eleven that preceded it. Now, look to this luminous edict (Footnote2) that has come down from on high, and that all are looking at with careful scrutiny, either out of astonishment or out of respect. This personality with his thousand signs is standing beside it explaining to people the meanings of this edict.

This edict’s style shines in the way that it attracts the admiration of all, and mentions serious and momentous matters such that all are compelled

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Footnote 1: One day, Imām ‘Ali (raḍiallāhu anhu) did not pray ‘Aṣr (the late-afternoon) prayer because the Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) was asleep on his lap. The sun - the great lamp of light - appeared again as the earth circled back toward the east, and he was then able to offer his ‘Aṣr prayer in time [and not as a make-up prayer] because of this miracle.

Footnote 2: The luminous edict is an allusion to the Qur’ān, and the insignia that has been set upon it is an allusion to its miraculous inimitability (i‘jāz).

to hearken to it; for one by one, it elucidates the activities, actions, commandments and attributes of the one who made this palace and directs this entire kingdom, and who reveals these wonders. Just as the general structure of this edict bears the supreme insignia, look, so too in each of its lines and every one of its sentences is there likewise an insignia that cannot be imitated, and it appears moreover that there is a style unique to each like a special spiritual seal upon the meanings, realities, commandments and wisdoms that it conveys.

The upshot: That supreme edict shows that Supreme Essence like the sun. Anyone who has not been blinded sees [Him].

So, O brother! If you have now returned to your senses, then this will be enough, and if you have anything to say, say it now. This obstinate man replied, saying, ‘faced with these proofs of yours I can only say, Alḥamdulillāh (praise be to Allāh) I believe, and indeed I have believed now with a faith that shines like the sun and is illuminated like the day, and I accept now that this kingdom has only one Perfect Owner Who is the Possessor of Perfection (kamāl), this world has one Majestic Possessor Who is the Possessor of Majesty (jalāl), this palace has a sole Artful Creator Who is the Possessor of Beauty (Aṣ-Ṣāni‘u Dhu’l-Jamāl). May Allāh be pleased with you, for you have saved me from my stubbornness of old and from my demented situation. All of the proofs that you mentioned were in fact sufficient to reveal this reality on their own, but I waited and extended my listening for every time you mentioned a proof degrees of knowledge, veils of recognition, and openings onto love were opened - more dazzling and more beautiful and more elegant and more luminous and more comely than before.’

The allegory that points to the supreme reality of Divine unity and to faith in Allāh is now complete.

By the generosity of the Most Merciful (Ar-Raḥmān) and the spiritual effusion of the Qur’ān and the light of faith we will [in ‘The Second Station’] explain twelve flashes from the sun of the reality of Divine unity along with an introduction, corresponding to the twelve proofs that have been related in the allegory - ومن الله التوفيق والهداية . (a)

The Second Station: This is in ‘The Twenty-second Word.’

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a And success and guidance are from Allāh.