The Flowers from the Seeds of Truth-2

 

The mirrors of the Divine Power are numerous

The Power of the All-Majestic One has numerous mirrors. They open up windows, each more transparent and subtle than the other, all looking onto the World of Representations or Ideal Forms.

Various mirrors from water to air, air to ether, ether to representations or ideal forms, ideal forms to spirits, spirits to time, time to imagination, and from imagination to the mind, all represent the manifestations of God’s acts. Turn your ear to the mirror of the air: a single word becomes millions!

The Pen of Power makes copies in an extraordinary way; this is the mystery of reproduction...

 

There are various sorts of representation

The image or reflection in a mirror is one of four sorts: it is either only the identity or the physical form of the thing reflected; or the identity together with the essential, living attributes; or both the identity and a ray from the thing’s nature; or both the nature and the identity.

If you desire examples: a human being, the sun, the angel, and the word. The images of solid things in mirrors are moving dead forms.

The images of a luminous body in its reflections are living and connected to it; even if it is not the spirit itself or identical to it, they are none other than this.

They are each an expanded light. If the sun had been a living being, its heat would be its life, and its light, its consciousness – its image in the mirror has these qualities (i.e., it has both heat and light).

This explains the following mystery: Archangel Gabriel is both at the Lote-tree16 and in the Prophet’s Mosque in the form of Dihya17 at the same instant – and who knows in how many other places!

Also, God knows how many places Azra’il can be present in simultaneously, taking the spirits of the dying.

At the same time, the Prophet appears to his Community both in the visions of the saints and in true dreams;

And on the Plain of the Supreme Gathering on Judgment Day he will meet with all to intercede on their behalf.

The “substitutes” (abdal) of saints appear and are seen in numerous places at the same instant.

 

One qualified to make ijtihad may deduce a new law for himself, but he cannot be a law-giver

Anyone who has the competence to practice ijtihad may deduce new laws for himself in matters about which there are no explicit verdicts in the Qur’an or Sunna; these are binding on that person, but not on others.

He cannot make laws and call on the Muslim Community to obey them. His conclusions are regarded as belonging to the Shari‘a, but they cannot be included in the Shari‘a as being binding on all Muslims. He may be a mujtahid, but he cannot be a law-giver.

It is only the consensus of the majority of scholars which bears the stamp of the Shari‘a. The first condition for calling on others to accept an idea is acceptance by the majority.

Otherwise, such a call is innovation and must be rejected; it is kept in the throat, and must not be uttered!

 

The light of reason comes from the heart

Unenlightened intellectuals should know this principle: an idea cannot be enlightened without the light of the heart.

As long as the ray of the mind has not been combined with the light of the heart, the result is darkness, oppression and ignorance. It is darkness dressed up in a false light.

Your eye has a white part, which resembles daytime, but it is blind and dark. But there is a pupil in it, which is dark like the night, but illuminated.

Without the pupil, that piece of flesh is not an eye, and you can see nothing. An eye without insight is also worth nothing.

So, if the dark pupil of the heart is not present in the white of thought, the contents of the mind will produce no knowledge or insight. There can be no reason or intellect without the heart.

 

The levels of knowledge in the mind are variable and can be confused

There are levels of knowledge in the mind that can be confused with one another and whose results are different. One first imagines something, then conceives of it, and clothes it in a form.

Afterwards, one reasons and reflects on this thing, then confirms it, and then has full conviction of it. Then they fully support it; then they become committed or devoted to it.

Your commitment is different, and so is your support, each of which results in a different state or attitude:

Steadfastness arises from commitment or devotion, while adherence comes from support or advocacy. Compliance proceeds from conviction and partiality from reasoning, while no ideas are formed at the level of conception.

If you remain at the level of imagination, the result will be sophistry. A beautiful, scenic description of falsehood and deceptive things will both injure and mislead simple minds.

 

Undigested knowledge should not be imparted to others

The true, scholarly guide is like a sheep, not a bird; they provide knowledge altruistically.

For the sheep gives its lamb digested food in the form of pure milk, whereas the bird gives its chick regurgitated food.

 

Destruction is easy, thus the weak are destructive

The existence of something depends on the existence of all its parts, while its non-existence is possible through the non-existence of one of its parts; thus, destruction is easy.

It is because of this that the impotent person never inclines to do or produce something positive or constructive that will show their power and capability; they act negatively, and are always destructive.

 

Force must serve right

If the principles of wisdom, laws of the state, precepts of right, and rules of force do not help or support one another,

They will neither be fruitful nor effective among the mass of the people. The marks or public symbols of the Shari‘a will be neglected and fall into abeyance.

They will no longer be a point of support for people in their affairs, and people will no longer have confidence in or rely on them.

 

Sometimes opposites contain opposites

Sometimes opposites conceal their opposites within them. In the language of politics, the words are the opposites of their meanings.

Tyranny has donned the cap of justice. Treachery has found a cheap dress in patriotism. Jihad and war for God’s sake have been labeled aggression and a violation of human rights. Enslavement to animal passions and the despotism of Satan have been called freedom.

Things have become their opposites, forms have been exchanged, names have been swapped, positions and ranks have changed places.

 

Politics based on self-interest is bestial

The politics of the present, which is based on self-interest, is a rapacious beast.

If you show love to a ravenous beast, you will not attract its compassion, but will rather sharpen its appetite.

Then it will turn on you and demand from you payment for the use of its claws and teeth.

 

Since human faculties have not been restricted in creation, their crimes are great

Unlike the animals, the faculties of human beings have not been restricted in creation; the good and evil that proceed from them know no limits.

If the selfishness that issues from one faculty and the egotism that proceeds from another are combined with haughtiness and obstinacy, such sins will be committed that no name has as of yet been found for them.

As these sins are proofs of the necessity of Hell, so too their penalty can only be Hell.

For example, in order to justify just one of his lies, a man desires, from his heart, the downfall of Islam.

The present time has shown that Hell is not unnecessary and Paradise is not cheap.

 

Sometimes good leads to evil

While in reality the merits of the elite should give rise to modesty and self-effacement in them, regrettably they have led to arrogance and oppression.

And while the destitution of the poor and the poverty of the common people should serve (as they do in reality) as means to arouse compassion and graciousness toward them, unfortunately they have now resulted in the abasement and servitude of the common people.

If honor and merit result from something, it is offered to the elite and leaders. But if vice and evil proceed from it, it is divided and distributed among the common people or employees and servants.

If a victorious tribe has won some honor, congratulations are offered to its Hasan Agha (the chief); but if some harm is obtained thenceforth, every curse is poured upon the members of the tribe. This is a sorry evil among humankind!

 

The absence of an objective strengthens egotism

If people have no goals to pursue, or if the main objective is forgotten or neglected, the minds turn to individual egos and revolve around them.

The ego thus becomes inflated, sometimes swelling with anger; it is not “pierced” or deflated so that it might become “we.” Those who love themselves love no other.

 

A life of revolutions has sprung from the death of Zakah and a life of usury

The origin of all revolutions, all anarchy and corruption, the root and source of all evils, vices, and corrupt traits, can be summed up in two short phrases:

The first is: “I am full, so what is it to me if others die of hunger?” And the second: “You suffer so I may be comfortable. You work so that I may eat. Food is for me, laboring is for you.”

There is one single cure for the lethal poison of the first word, which will sever it at the root and heal the situation:

That is the Zakah which is established by the Shari‘a, a pillar of Islam. In the second word is a tree of Zaqqum18; what will uproot it is the prohibition of usury and interest.

If humankind desires salvation and loves its life, it must impose Zakah and abolish usury and interest.

 

If humankind prefers life, it must put to death usury of every sort

The bond of human relation that extends from the elite to the common people has been severed. So from below (the lower social strata) arise the cries of revolution, the shouts for revenge, the screams of grievance and envy.

From above descend fires of tyranny and scorn, the thunder of arrogance, and the lightning of oppression.

What should arise from below are love, respect, and accord. And from above should descend compassion and assistance, kindness and consideration.

If humankind desires these, it should hold fast to the Zakah and abandon usury and interest.

The Qur’anic justice stands at the door of the world, saying to usury and interest: “No entry! You have no right to enter!” They should retreat from this door and disappear from the world.

Humankind has not heeded this command and has thus received a severe blow; people should heed this call now before receiving another, more severe blow.

 

Humankind has demolished slavery;

It will demolish wage-earning as well

In a dream I said the less severe wars between nations and states make way for fiercer wars between the social classes.

For in previous eras, humankind did not approve of slavery and crushed it with its blood. Now it has become a wage-earner; at the moment humanity is putting up with this burden, but this too will be crushed.

Humankind has grown old, having passed through four stages (of social progress): savagery, nomadism, slavery, and colonialism; now we are in the fifth age, that of wage-earning, but this too is passing.

 

An unlawful way leads to the opposite of what was intended

The murderer cannot inherit (from the one whom he has murdered); this is a very significant principle: “Someone who follows an unlawful way (in Islam) to reach his goal generally attains the opposite of what they intended in retribution.”

Love of (the second) Europe is not a lawful love in view of the Shari‘a; it is a blind imitation and disagreeable friendliness. Its consequence and recompense is the tyrannical hostility of the beloved and its crimes.

The sinner condemned to loss will find, in the end, neither pleasure nor salvation.

 

There is a grain of truth in both the Jabriyya and the Mu‘tazila

O seeker after truth! The past and calamities, and the future and sins are not the same in the view and consideration of the Shari‘a.

The past and calamities are considered from the perspective of Divine Destiny; for this, the fitting word is that of the Jabriyya, (who refer every event to Destiny).

Human accountability is taken into consideration about the future and sins; for this, the fitting word is that of the Mu‘tazila, (who deny the role of Destiny in human actions). The Mu‘tazila and Jabriyya are reconciled here.

There is a grain of truth in both of these false schools. Each has a particular situation; falsehood arises from a generalization that goes beyond a particular situation.

 

Only the incapable seek solace in impotence and complaints

If you want life, do not cling to impotence for things which have no solution;

If you want ease of mind, do not have recourse to regretful complaints about things for which there are no solutions.

 

If one on a rope fights with another on the ground, the one on the rope will lose

It is fitting for the abased to live in submissive peace with the infidels who war against Islam. The physical wounds heal, but the wounds to the dignity of Islam and the national honor are deep.

If an acrobat balancing on a rope offers to fight with someone standing on the ground, the latter will not refuse to engage, for the life of the acrobat and his amazing skill depend on his balance.

Once he loses his balance, see what will happen! The one on the ground, lacking any skill, has only to sit down or stand up.

 

An ambiguous proposition cannot be a universal one

An unconditioned proposition among the explicit statements of the Qur’an and Hadith is sometimes taken for a universal proposition.

Eventually the time comes when it is taken for a permanent rule. Its realization, even on one occasion in a single person is enough for it to be a truth.

For example, it is said, “An hour’s sentry duty equals a year’s worship.” The Eskisehir and İnönü19 fronts may have proven its truth.

The Qur’an states that one who kills an innocent person is considered to have killed the whole of humankind.20

A time comes when a single word brings about the defeat of an army. A single bullet led to the annihilation of thirty million people. 21

 

Sometimes little things have greater outcomes

There are some circumstances in which a little action raises the performer of the action to the highest of the high;

Then there are circumstances where a slight action sends its doer to the lowest of the low...

 

For some people a moment is a year

Some innate capacities develop in an instant, while others are gradual, unfolding little by little. Human nature contains both of these.

They depend on conditions, and change accordingly. Sometimes they develop gradually. Sometimes they are like gunpowder – dark, suddenly exploding into glowing fire.

Sometimes a look transforms coals into diamonds. Sometimes a touch can change a stone into elixir.

A single look from the Prophet transformed an ignorant nomad into an enlightened one of knowledge in an instant.

If you want a comparison: ‘Umar before Islam, and ‘Umar after Islam. Compare the two: a seed and a tree. The seed instantaneously produced fruit. That look of Muhammad, the grace of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings,

Suddenly transformed the coal-like natures in the Arabian Peninsula into diamonds. He enlightened characters that were as black as gunpowder; they all became shining lights.

 

A lie is a word of unbelief

One grain of truth burns a million lies. A grain of reality destroys a castle of dreams. Truthfulness is a supreme principle, a shining jewel.

If speaking the truth may cause harm, silence can be preferred; but there is never a place for lies, even if they appear to have some use.

Whatever you say must be true, whatever judgment you give must be right, but you have no right to voice all that is true.

One should be well aware of this, and adopt it as one’s principle: “Take what is clear and untroubled, leave what is turbid and distressing.”

See the good side of things, so that you will have good thoughts. Know things to be good and think of them as good, so that you will find pleasure in life.

In life, hope and thinking well of things is life itself, while despair and thinking ill of others is the destroyer of happiness and killer of life.

 

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi

16 The Lote-tree (Sidratu’l-Muntaha in the Qur’an, 53:14) of the furthest limit; it signifies the boundary between the realm of Divinity and the realm of creation. (Tr.)

17 Dihyatu’l-Kalbi was one of Prophet Muhammad’s Companions. Archangel Gabriel sometimes came to the Prophet in his form. See, al-Bukhari, “Manaqib” 25; Muslim, “Iman” 271. (Tr.)

18 Zaqqum is an extremely bitter and thorny tree that grows at the bottom of Hellfire; the people of Hell will eat of it. (Tr.)

19 Eskisehir and İnönü were fronts at which the Turkish army fought against the invading Greek army during the Turkish War of Independence. (Tr.)

20 The author is referring to the verse: …. He who kills a soul unless it be (in legal punishment) for murder or for causing disorder and corruption on the earth will be as if he had killed all humankind; and he who saves a life will be as if he had saved the lives of all humankind…. (5:32)

21 See footnote 9.