The second hope

 

One autumn day when old age was upon me, at about the time of the afternoon Prayer, I was looking at the world from a high mountain and I became overwhelmed by a piteous, mournful and, in some sense, dark mood or state of mind. I saw that I had become old. The day also had grown old, and so had the year; and so too had the world. All those instances of old age made me feel that the time of departure from the world and separation from those I loved had drawn close, and my own old age shook me severely. Suddenly Divine Mercy unfolded in such a way that it changed that piteous sadness and separation into a powerful hope and radiant light of solace. I affirm to you who are elderly like me: the All-Compassionate Creator presents Himself to us in a hundred places in the wise Qur’an as “the All-Merciful and the All-Compassionate.” He is always sending His mercy to the aid of the living creatures on the earth which seek it. Every year He sends the spring, which He fills with innumerable bounties and gifts from the Unseen, to us, who are needy of provision, and manifests His mercy abundantly proportionate to our innate weakness and impotence. Thus, the Mercy2 of our All-Compassionate Creator is the greatest hope and most powerful light in our old age. We can find this Mercy by forming a connection with and adhering to the All-Merciful through belief and by obeying Him by performing the daily Prayers.

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi

The things concerning or belonging to God Almighty are sometimes initiated with capital letters and sometimes with small ones. For example, in this paragraph “mercy” is initiated either with a capital letter or with a small one. If it refers to God’s Name or Attribute, it is initiated with a capital letter, but if it refers to a manifestation of that Name or Attribute, it is initiated with a small letter. (Tr.)