Selected Letters (Kastamonu Lahikasi) in Translation

 

By zahrainstitute.org

March 29, 2012

Notice: Translation Copyright (c) Zahra Institute, USA. www.zahrainstitute.org

 

[LETTER # 1: Kastamonu Lahikasi, p.6]

My dear, truthful brothers and strong and perceptive companions in the service of the Qur’an!

This age is the age of collectivities. A person’s worth and significance derives from the collective self. No consideration should be given to the physical, individual and transient character of the individual. Anyone, especially a poor person like me, would be crushed under the heavy weight placed on his weak shoulders, if someone ascribed to him a value a thousand times greater than his own.

Alhamdulillah, the Risale-i Nur has been tested time and again and plainly shown that it is a miracle of the Qur’an capable of illuminating this age and perhaps the ones to come. Your praise and appreciation for the Risale-i Nur is well placed, but as for the part about me, I deserve not a scintilla of it.

If anything, I am forever grateful to have received tremendous blessings and success on account of the Risale-i Nur, thanks to the help and efforts of truthful students like you.

Brother Sabri, Officer of the Port of Nur: in two or perhaps three ways I share in the conversation among you, Suleyman and Husrev.

Brother Hafiz Ali, Factory of Nur: your extraordinary letter looked superb to me except for the part about me. It showed all the marks of your sincere and noble perceptiveness. It made me say, “Here is an Ali who has the potential of many Abdurrahmans.”[1]

Mustafas, Kucuk (Little) Ali, blessed and enlightened brothers: Your letter, like that of Buyuk (Big) Ali, expresses a wondrous truth. That truth is true with respect to the Risale-i Nur. But I, as a person, do not have the right to enter into those precincts.

Indeed, as the Prophet declares, “the scholars of my ummah are like the prophets of Israel.” In both character and deeds, such great and extraordinary individuals as Ghaws-ul A’zam Abdulqadir Gilani, Imam Ghazali, and Imam Rabbani have corroborated this hadith with their valuable spiritual leadership and work. Because those times were in some ways the age of personalities, the divine wisdom sent such unique individuals and sacred geniuses to the aid of the Muslim ummah. But now, in this age of collectivities, to perform the same crucial task under difficult and horrible conditions, the divine wisdom has mobilized the Risale-i Nur—which is a spiritual collective person— and the students of Risale-i Nur—who, thanks to the principle of solidarity, are like a unique individual. Due to this secret, my place at headquarters can only be one of an auxiliary.

Brother Re’fet: Though I needed and wanted to meet with you at least once every four days, it took us four years to have one private conversation. Those who, like you, do yeoman’s service to the Risale-i Nur with their precious, effective words and strong, beautiful writing are always present in my mind as spiritual interlocutors and in my imagination as companions. But because the Risale-i Nur’s unusually effective dissemination has attracted certain attentions, currently extra caution is needed.

It is appropriate to send Iktisad Risalesi (Treatise on Frugality) and the Cocuk Ta’ziyenamesi Risalesi (A Letter of Condolence on the Death of a Child).

I greet and pray for all my brothers, especially the select ones. And out of appreciation for them, I pray for their kith and kin as I pray for my own, thus sharing my spiritual gains with them.

[Said Nursi]

**********************

[LETTER # 2: Kastamonu Lahikasi, p.10]

My dear, truthful, devoted and loyal brothers and my strong, precious, diligent and capable friends in the service of the Qur’an and faith!

You are the source of consolation for me in this world and you have vindicated my great hopes about you. May Allah be forever pleased with you, amen!

What you sent me, especially the Tenth Word, turned out to be so useful that, if I could, I would give you a great gift for each of its pages. Since it has been a while that I have not seen them, whichever I picked up to read, I found myself saying, “this is the best.” Then I would look at the next one and say “No, this is.” And as I looked at more and more, I reached the awestruck conclusion that the books of the Risale-i Nur are not preferable one over another. Each piece has its own domain of primacy. And altogether it is a spiritual miracle of the Qur’an illuminating this age.

Yes, the Risale-i Nur in its totality is an important, spiritual and scholarly guide for this age. Like the individual great masters, but in a manner appropriate to itself and in keeping with true scholarship, it has achieved a variety of miracles in the disclosure and dissemination of the truths of faith. Many signs and incidents have convinced me of this, among them the Mu’cizat-i Ahmediye [The Miracles of Muhammed], which has three manifested miracles, and The Tenth Word, The Twenty Ninth Word, and Ayet-ul Kubra [The Supreme Sign], each of which has its own special miracle. Multiple incidents have shown without doubt that, even in the moment of death, it comes like a spiritual master to the aid of its students, saving their faith.

One hour of contemplation is equivalent to a year of voluntary worship… I have observed and come to the conclusion that “Hizb-i Akbar of Nur” is an example of this.[2]

I would have wanted to send you both the Hizb-i Akbar of Risale-i Nur and the Hizb-i Azam of the Qur’an, but because the Hizb-i Azam is very long, I have not been able to have it written. As to the Hizb-i Akbar, I wanted to translate it, but I decided not to for now. Thinking that brothers like you are not in need of translation, I will send only the Arabic version, inshallah!

The piece I previously sent to you as the summary of the first station of Ayet-ul Kubra is the basis of that hizb. Unintentionally, when some small pieces and notes were added, it suddenly took on a different shape; it developed and expanded and, like a smaller version of Ayet-ul Kubra, its testimony to the divine unity began to shine, its meanings were illuminated. It began to give a great relief to my soul, heart and mind such that when, in my moments of tiredness and boredom, I read it thoughtfully, I felt great joy and enthusiasm.

With the possibility that it might be useful to you, I am sharing with you a piece that I wrote in response to the following question.

Some individuals engaged in deep study of the collected writings of saints or the works of scholars have asked: “Why is the pleasure, enthusiasm, faith and understanding induced by Risale-i Nur stronger than that inspired by other writings?”

Answer: Most of the works of past saintly figures and some scholarly works of the past talk about the outcomes, fruits and benefits of faith and knowledge. In their times, there were no attacks on the foundations and roots of faith. The bases of faith were not being shaken. But now there is a powerful and concerted assault on the roots and foundations of faith. Most of those mystical and scholarly works address the needs of select believers and particular individuals only; they cannot repel the horrible attacks of this age.

On the other hand, the Risale-i Nur, as a spiritual miracle of the Qur’an, rescues the basics of faith and, instead of promoting the enjoyment of an already-established faith, serves with many proofs and clear evidence to establish the foundations of faith, to authenticate, preserve and protect it from doubt. Therefore, whoever considers the Risale-i Nur carefully must reach the judgment that in this age it is like bread and medicine, needed by everybody.

Those mystic books say, “Become a saint, and you will see. Ascend the ladder of holiness and then take a look, go collect divine radiance and bounties.” Whereas the Risale-i Nur says, “No matter who you are, take a look, see. Just open your eyes, observe the truth, and save your faith, for it is the key to eternal happiness.”

Furthermore, the Risale-i Nur tries first to persuade the soul of its translator [Nursi] before turning to others. Of course, a lesson that completely persuades the one who conveys it, eliminating all doubts, must be so powerful and sincere that it alone can successfully counter the formidable spirit of deviation which, in this age, has organized itself into a collective personality.

Also, the Risale-i Nur, unlike the work of other scholars, does not instruct by the path or perspective of reason alone, nor does it act as some mystics do on the path of the insights and pleasures of the heart alone. Instead, following a path that unifies and harmonizes reason and heart, that creates solidarity between the soul and the senses, it takes flight to the highest level. It rises up to places the attacking philosophy not only has never set foot, but has not even set eyes on; it shows the truths of faith to the blind eyes of that philosophy.

[Said Nursi]

*************

[LETTER # 3: Kastamonu Lahikasi, p.75]

A truth that restores to the fold of Islam those whom compassion has led astray into the paths of deviation and confusion

Because human compassion is a reflection of Divine mercy, it obviously should not exceed certain bounds, and certainly should not surpass the compassion of the One (PBUH) who is a Mercy to the Worlds. If it does so, then of course it is not mercy or compassion. It is, perhaps, a disease of the spirit, an ailment of heart that leads to deviation and disbelief.

For example, not being able to comprehend or accept the fact that disbelievers and hypocrites will burn in Hell or that jihad is a religious requirement and instead trying to interpret them away is not only a denial of a great deal of the Qur’an and celestial religions, it is also a grave injustice. Showing protective mercy to the monsters that savage innocent animals is a severe injustice and a cruel lack of conscience. Those men destroy the eternal lives of thousands of Muslims, promote sin and encourage hundreds of believers towards a bad end. Tenderheartedly taking the monsters’ side and compassionately praying for their release from punishment, is of course, mercilessness on a grand scale and an abject form of oppression of the believers.

It is proven with certainty in the Risale-i Nur that disbelief and deviation are grave insults to the universe and a huge injustice to Creation, and that they are a cause for the withholding of mercy and the imposition of calamities. Even the fish in the deep seas complain of such criminals. According to an authentic narration they say, “They destroyed our peace.” This being the case, someone who feels pity for the suffering of a disbeliever and extends compassion to him is in fact not feeling pity for the infinite number of innocents who deserve compassion; he fails in his duty of compassion to them and instead does them a grievous wrong. Of course, there are situations where calamities befall the deserving, but innocents also suffer alongside them. One cannot but feel pity for them. Yet there is a secret mercy for the innocents who suffer because of the punishments given to criminals.

Once upon a time, during the First World War, I was feeling deep anguish for the massacres and atrocities inflicted by the enemy on Muslims, especially the non-combatants and children. Because I am by nature very sensitive and compassionate, I was suffering beyond my capacity. Then suddenly it came to my heart that those slaughtered innocents were becoming martyrs, that their transient lives were being replaced by eternal ones, their property was becoming their charity and being exchanged for a permanent property. I then knew and developed a firm conviction that even if those innocents were non-believers, in the hereafter, in exchange for their suffering in this world, they would receive such rewards from the treasury of Divine mercy that if the curtain over the unseen were to be lifted before their eyes, those innocents would say, “O My Lord! Thank you, thank you.” In this way, I was relieved from the intense sorrow and pain caused by my excessive compassion.

[Said Nursi]

***************

[LETTER # 4: Kastamonu Lahikasi, p.80]

Because the true meanings of the authentic hadiths [prophetic narrations] about the return of Jesus (PBUH) at the End of Days and his killing of Anti-Christ have not been understood, some scholars, looking only superficially at these hadiths, have become doubtful. They either deny their authenticity or ascribe to them such a superstitious meaning that the scholars appear to expect the impossible, thus doing harm to ordinary Muslim believers. And the disbelievers use those seemingly unreasonable hadiths as a pretext for mocking and attacking the truths of Islam. The Risale-i Nur has, with the guidance of Qur’an, shown the true interpretations of such ambiguous hadiths. For now, we offer just one as an example.

There are narrations that literally say that Anti-Christ is so much bigger than Jesus (PBUH) that during their confrontation, when Jesus is about to kill Anti-Christ, he will jump with his sword more than twenty-two feet up, only to reach Anti-Christ’s knee. That is to say, Anti-Christ must be ten, maybe twenty times taller than Jesus. The surface meaning of this hadith is contrary to the divine logic of testing and responsibility (sırr-ı teklif ve sırr-ı imtihan) and is incompatible with the divine laws governing the world of man.

To silence the disbelievers who think of this narration as something impossible and superstitious and at the same time to give a warning to some of those superficial clerics who, while their eyes see some of the truths of this hadith, nonetheless expect it to manifest itself literally, let me show how one of this hadith’s multiple meanings—each fully true and compatible with all the others—has already come true. Namely:

Imagine that there exist a state that works to protect the Christian religion and its longstanding traditions and another state that for its own dark ends officially supports and promotes atheism and bolshevism. If the symbolic personas of the former state— which happens, for reasons of its own, to fight in Asia and Muslim lands against corrupt and authoritarian states that support the spread of atheism— and that of all those who support the movement of atheism were to be embodied, it would demonstrate in three respects exactly what that hadith, which has multiple meanings, might mean for our age. If that (Christian) state wins the war, this implied meaning will become explicit. If it does not entirely win, it would still be a valid implied meaning.

The First Aspect: If the community of Sincere Christians who follow the true Religion of Christianity and that of those who promote atheism were to be symbolically embodied, the latter would look like a person as tall as a minaret, while the former reached not even the height of a child.

The Second Aspect: Imagine a comparison between two collective personalities. On the one side we have the collective personality of a state which has officially declared that it will rely on God, fight against atheism, and protect Islam and Muslims. It has a population slightly above one hundred million. On the other, we have another state that controls a population of more than four hundred million and its ally China with a population close to four hundred million and America and the Bolsheviks that they support together. The ratio of the collective power of the warring force belonging to the former state—which lands lethal blows on the latter—to the collective personality of the atheists and their supporters would be like a man against another man the size of a minaret. The meaning of the narration that “Anti-Christ will take over the world” is that it will have the support of the majority. Now that has happened.

The Third Aspect: Consider a state which is not even one fourth of Europe—itself the smallest continent among the four[3] continents of the world. And such a state conducts overwhelmingly effective warfare against most of Asia, Africa, America and Australia. Together with a state that claims to represent Jesus, it relies on religion and fights against the despotic currents of atheism by means of celestial parachutes. If the collective personalities of these two parties were to be embodied in human form, much as newspapers do when they depict the relative powers of states and status of countries with illustrations and cartoons, the result of such a comparison, projected in the news of the world and on the page of this century, would show how the metaphoric images of those collective personalities exactly match one of the many meanings of the prophetic narration, which miraculously gives news of the Unseen and the end times. The return of Jesus from heaven can be seen as implying that a community which represents Jesus and acts on his behalf will descend from the heavens in an unheard-of way: by airplane and parachute, perhaps, landing like a celestial calamity behind enemy lines. This is but one illustration of how the return of Jesus might materialize.

Yes, based on the literal meaning of that hadith, the return of Jesus from heaven is certain. And just as the hadith symbolically expresses other truths, so it also miraculously alludes to our current reality. I began this in response to the insistent questions of Feyzi, who is Little Husrev, and Emin, intending to write a few lines that might aid in preserving the faith of some poor souls who found themselves in doubt. Yet I unintentionally found myself writing at greater length. We could not understand the wisdom behind it. Thinking that there might be a wisdom behind this, we left it as it is. Forgive us that, because we could not find time to revise and attend this piece any further, it has remained confused.

[Said Nursi]

*************

[LETTER # 5: Kastamonu Lahikasi, p.111]

[…]

(Of utmost importance)

Due to my compassionate and sensitive nature, I was shaken by the cataclysms that have brought disaster, loss, poverty and hunger to men, coming as they have in this harsh winter, and at a time of calamitous spiritual cold. Then suddenly I was reminded: in such calamities, there is a certain kind of mercy and reward for the victims, even if they are non-believers. Indeed, the suffering inflicted by the calamity would appear to be worthwhile relative to the scope of this mercy and reward, because the innocent victims of such divine calamities become, in a sense, martyrs.

Though I have not been following worldly affairs and the progress of the war for three or four months now, I have been deeply pained at the thought of the innocent children and civilians suffering in Europe and Russia. And what was revealed to me in that moment of divine insight concerning their lot has become the cure to my painful compassion. To wit:

Those who suffer and die from the disasters and calamities sent down by God as a result of the crimes of the wicked, if they are under the age of fifteen, are martyrs regardless of their religion. Their spiritual reward, like that of a Muslim, is so great that their suffering is as nothing in comparison.

Those who are over fifteen, if they are innocent victims, shall have a great reward, which may save them from hellfire. Since this is the age of the end of days, when a veil of indifference has descended upon religion in general and the religion of Muhammed (PBUH), in particular, to such a degree that it qualifies as an era of interregnum (fetret), and since in the end times the true religion of Jesus (PBUH) will reign and will come to stand shoulder to shoulder with Islam, surely the tragedies that befall those innocent Christians who follow Jesus (PBUH) and remain in the dark of interregnum can be said to grant them the status of a kind of martyrdom.

The elderly and the oppressed, the poor and the weak are suffering bitterly from the coercion and violence of despots. The truth revealed itself to me that the calamities they suffer become a form of purification from the decadence and ingratitude of modern civilization and from the sins of deviation and ungodliness engendered by [modern] philosophy, and that those who suffer are, therefore, a hundred times better off. For this I gave infinite thanks to God, who is the most merciful of the merciful, and found consolation for the heartrending anguish of my compassion.

If those who suffer calamity are themselves oppressors, if they are the cruel villains who instigated the suffering of humanity, or the selfish, debased devils in human form who, for the sake of their own interests, set mankind on fire, then they deserve what they get and it is divine justice that is being meted out to them.

If those who suffer were rushing to help the victims, if they were coming to the relief of humanity, if they sought to protect the foundations of religions, sacred principles and the rights of human beings, then surely the reward of such a sacrifice is so great that it will turn tragedy into a source of honor for them and a thing to be cherished.

[Said Nursi]

**********

[LETTER # 6: Kastamonu Lahikasi, p.114]

To our brothers in Isparta!

We would like to share with you a pleasant dream which not only gave us the certainty of a witness on an issue pertaining to qadar (divine decree) but also the second part of the dream gave us good news and spiritual tidings. Here is the dream:

Two days ago, our Master sees a dream where he and I, Feyzi, we go out for sightseeing. While on the way, I suddenly tell my Master that here I will collect the bear’s prayer beads. My Master looks and sees a tangle of white thread. He finds my strange words amusing, especially the idea that a bear could have prayer beads, and wakes up laughing hard. And he goes on laughing even after he wakes up. Unusually for him, twenty or thirty times that day he remembered and teased me about that dream incident. Although we tried to interpret it every which way, nothing seemed to fit. Then on the second day, as he was going about his daily routine (partly on the same day as the day of the truthful dream and partly at the same hour of the second day) a friend who looked like me –and whom my Master had mistaken for me in his dream—came to our Master and said, “What would you say about a patient, an important person, who has been told by a man who is a maker of prayer beads to take a medicine made of bear grease every morning?” Our Master laughed just as he had laughed in his dream and, remembering the dream with a sudden amazement, replied: “Tell him not to take it!”

A truthful dream is an absolute proof of the fact that divine determination (qadar) encompasses everything, as noted in the Sixth Point of the First Matter of the Twenty-Eighth Letter. This incident, the like of which has been experienced many times by our Master, showed us with the certainty of direct witnesses that events, before coming into being, are predetermined, known, and definite. The incident became a pleasant and certain example of that pillar of faith according to which events come into being as apportioned by divine decree.

Also, in a second layer of the same dream, our Master sees that a royal decree is sent to the community of the Risale-i Nur. That sacred decree arrives and turns out to be the Qur’an. The meaning of this dream was also revealed that very day, when we unexpectedly found a Hizb-ul Akbar of Qur’an inside a lovely, centuries-old coffer embroidered with silver thread and decorated with the royal seal like those found on sultans’ decrees, and the exterior of the book had been embellished at Asiye Hanim’s house. Our Master said, “The Qur’an came first as a decree and now we have received its Hizb-ul Akbar. Since it has royal seals on it, we expect that by divine mercy it will serve as a decree bringing good news and as a means of virtue and progress for the community of Risale-i Nur.” After this interpretation on the second day, your precious present shone forth its true interpretation like the sun.

Risale-i Nur students and constant servants,

Emin and Feyzi (also known as Little Husrev)

**************

[LETTER # 7: Kastamonu Lahikasi, p.219]

My dear, loyal brothers!

Out of sensitivity and compassion for my fellow man, I felt great sorrow for those poor souls struggling in this harsh winter and in the present terrible winter of the spirit and in yet another bloody winter in the civil life of mankind. And, as I have stated in many other places, the Beneficent and Merciful Creator who is the Most Merciful One and the Firmest Judge came to the rescue of my heart. I was told: “This severe sadness of yours risks becoming a reproach of the wisdom and mercy of the All Wise and All Merciful. There cannot be mercy beyond Divine Grace. Think, instead, that the rebellious will get their punishment and the innocent and the victimized will receive rewards much greater than their suffering! When it comes to matters outside the scope of your power and control, you should look from the vantage point of His mercy, wisdom, justice and sovereignty.” And thus was I relieved from the sharp and needless pain of compassion.

Thirty years ago, as I was travelling among the (Kurdish) tribes, they asked me: This age is a time about which there is much complaint, even the great personalities and saints complain of their ill fortune and of the times. Does this not constitute a criticism of the unique art of the Almighty Creator?

Answer: No, not at all! It rather means this: It is as though the one who complains is saying, “The condition of the world, which is organized according to the principle of pre-eternal wisdom and the laws of fate, which, in turn, is described by the compass of divine grace, is not conducive to what I want to do. My desires do not accord with the nature of the time, which is printed in the printing house of divine will. That divine wisdom which establishes the universal good does not accede to my wishes.” That is why in this world of contingency we cannot by the stratagems of our minds or the desire of our hearts snatch the fruits we want from the mighty hand of the Absolute Bestower. What it does give, we shall not be able to keep. And what it lets fall, we shall not lift up again. Verily, for the sake of one man’s desire, the planets cannot be stayed in their courses.

And now, to this thirty-year-old answer, the Risale-i Nur adds a small footnote from the text on earthquakes:

There are hundreds of good consequences that come out of both spiritual and literal winters and earthquakes. Asking them to stop their appointed duties because of one negative result is tantamount to abandoning hundreds of positive results and causing a hundred negative ones, just to avoid the one undesired outcome. This runs counter to wisdom, truth and sovereignty. But to those individuals crying out under the strain of these general laws, the Most Compassionate and Most Merciful can send relief by special grace, private help, and exclusive rewards, and can cure their maladies. This help, however, is given on the basis of the true needs of the individual and not on the basis of his desires. Sometimes, in place of the piece of glass he wants in this world, he is given a diamond in the hereafter.

[Said Nursi]

* * *

[LETTER # 8: Kastamonu Lahikasi, p.220]

Since a very sweet fruit among the serious truths concerning our Master and the Risale-i Nur is tevafuk (synchronicity), we write to our brothers about a few instances of tevafuk over the last couple of days, as well as a footnote to an earlier one:

Indeed, synchronicity in words and in written letters indicates a clear divine intention and a special grace. At times it becomes so extraordinary that it rises to the level of a miracle. Other times it simply lends a pleasant and delicate flavor to daily life. Accordingly, in events related to the Risale-i Nur and our Master, we see the same meaningful and graceful tevafuk. Thus:

Of the landlady who has not come for four months, he said to our brother Emin: “Find out.” But at the very moment he said that, she knocked at the door. On a later occasion that story was read twice to two different people. The moment the phrase “said to our brother Emin” was read the first time, Emin opened the door downstairs. The second time it was read, Emin opened the door upstairs and— an unusual thing for him to do— came inside. The correspondence of these two tevafuks to the incident of the landlady shows that even the smallest activities of ours are no coincidence, but deliberate synchronicity.

Then there was the day we were worried about a thirty-day delay in the return of Fuad, a student of Risale-i Nur, who four months ago had brought us some tarhana to make soup, and had since gone to Istanbul, we had another tevafuk: he showed up the very same day we ran out of the tarhana he had brought.

Also, the same day we used the last of the butter—both our Master and we were feeling the blessing (baraka) in it. The moment we ran out of it, we received the exact same amount again, at the same place and at a similar time of day. And another incident: there is a type of scone baked in ash that they prepare in the nearby villages. Because he liked it, our Master ate it at all meals and it lasted for fifteen days. The very day we ran out of it, we received a bunch of those scones sent by one of his relatives. For the sake of this tevafuk, he did not decline it, but accepted it. In exchange for it, he offered blessings. We saw with our own eyes in this pleasant tevafuk the small, sweet manifestations of divine grace and realized that in our affairs there is no such thing as blind chance.

Just as there are meaningful examples of tevafuk in the words and letters of the Risale-i Nur, so are there similar moments of synchronicity in the behaviors and actions pertaining to it. Because it touches on divine grace, even the smallest thing is big in value. Writing about it at such length and paying such attention to it should not be seen as excessive. For what is intended here is the meaning of such things, which is grace and the boon of mercy. Thus this piece is a form of gratitude.

Students of the Risale-i Nur

Emin, Feyzi

 

[1] (Tr. Note) Abdurrahman is Said Nursi’s nephew who was also his aide and assistant.

[2] Note: In the beginning of the third station of Ayet-ul-Kubra [The Supreme Sign], Ahmed-i Faruqi [Imam-i Rabbani Shaykh Ahmad al-Faruqi al-Sirhindi (1564–1624)] is quoted as saying: “A scholar of kalam will emerge, who will explain and prove all truths of faith with utmost clarity.” Time has proven that that person is not a man but the Risale-i Nur. People with spiritual intuition have seen and recognized the Risale-i Nur but, seeing in it the face of its poor translator, they called it a man.

[3] Australia is not taken into account.

 

 

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