The Flowers from the Seeds of Truth-1
Two supreme proofs of Divine Unity
With whatever is in it, the universe is a supreme proof; with its tongues of the unseen and manifest worlds, it declares God’s Unity and glorifies Him. Announcing the Unity of the All-Merciful, it continuously proclaims:
There is no deity but He!
All the atoms of its cells, all its parts and members, are tongues mentioning God. Together they pronounce in that resounding voice:
There is no deity but He!
The tongues are infinitely various, the voices are of differing pitch, but they are united on one point – the mention of Him, saying:
There is no deity but He!
The universe is the macro-human; it mentions God in a loud voice, while all its elements and atoms add to that loud voice their tiny voices, declaring in unison:
There is no deity but He!
The universe is a circle of God’s remembrance, reciting the Qur’an section by section. Its light comes from the Qur’an, and all beings with spirits reflect on the truth:
There is no deity but He!
The Qur’an, this Mighty, Glorious Criterion of Truth and Falsehood, is the most articulate proof of Divine Unity. All of its verses are truthful tongues, and rays from the lightning of belief. All together they declare:
There is no deity but He!
If you attach your ear to the bosom of that Criterion, in its profoundest depths you will hear clearly a heavenly voice which recites:
There is no deity but He!
Its voice is utterly exalted, utterly solemn, truly sincere, most friendly, utterly convincing, and equipped with proofs. Repeatedly it declares:
There is no deity but He!
All the six aspects of this proof of light are transparent: upon it is the flower and stamp of miraculousness and in it shines the light of guidance, which says:
There is no deity but He!
Beneath it lies subtly interwoven logic and proof; on its right the intelligence or reason is made speak and the mind completely affirms it, saying:
There is no deity but He!
On its left, identical to the right, the conscience is produced as a witness; before it lies pure good and its aim is happiness and prosperity, the key of which at every instant is:
There is no deity but He!
Its support beyond it, identical to “before it,” is heavenly, pure Divine Revelation. All these six aspects are luminous and manifested in the sign of each is:
There is no deity but He!
Can any lurking suspicion, any conceivable, piercing doubt, any treacherous deviance sneak into that resplendent, shining castle with its lofty walls of suras, every word of which is an angel uttering:
There is no deity but He!?
The Qur’an of mighty stature is an ocean of Divine Unity. To take a single drop as an example from that ocean, look at only a single, slight allusion out of the short sura, Suratu’l-Ikhlas; there are innumerable allusions: its six phrases, three positive, three negative, refute all kinds of attribution of partners to God and prove Divine Unity in its seven aspects:
THE FIRST PHRASE: Say, He: it is a clear indication of Him, requiring no evidence. That is, it defines Him without considering Him with His Names, Attributes, and acts. This definition indicates Him directly. That is:
There is no “he” but He.
This is an allusion to the experiential affirmation of Divine Unity. When a truth-seeing view becomes immersed in Divine Unity, it says:
There is nothing observed but He!
THE SECOND PHRASE: God, the absolutely One, the Unique is an explicit affirmation of God’s Unity as the Divine Being or of His Divinity. Reality declares in the tongue of truth:
There is nothing to be worshipped but He!
THE THIRD PHRASE: God, the Eternally Besought One. This is the shell of two pearls of Divine Unity. The first is God’s Unity as the Lord (of all creation). The order of the universe declares:
There is no creator but He!
The second pearl is God’s Unity as the Self-Subsistent, by Whom all subsist. The universe in its entirety declares through the language of absolute need for an Author, an Ultimate, Creative Cause, both for its coming into being and its continued existence:
There is no self-subsistent, by whom all subsist, but He!
THE FOURTH PHRASE: He begets not. This indicates God’s Unity as the All-Majestic One. It rejects all kinds of attribution of partners to God, and decisively refutes unbelief. That is, one who is subject to change or production or division can be neither Creator, nor Self-Subsistent, nor Deity.
The negating not (lam in the Arabic) decisively refutes the idea of begetting for the Divine Being. This kind of attribution of partners to God (that is, accepting paternity for the Divine Being) has made the majority of humankind sinful. It has given rise to creeds such as Jesus, Ezra, angels, or “the ten intellects” are offspring of the Divine Being.
THE FIFTH PHRASE: Nor is He begotten indicates God’s Unity as the All-Eternal. That is, one whose existence is not necessary, pre-eternal, or uncontained by time cannot be God. That is, one who came into existence within time, or was born of matter, or descended from a progenitor, cannot be the universe’s Refuge and Protector.
The attribution of existence to causes (causality), the worship of stars, idolatry, and naturalism are all varieties of associating partners with God, all pitfalls of misguidance.
THE SIXTH PHRASE: And comparable to Him there is none is a comprehensive phrase that expresses all aspects of Divine Unity. That is, the negating is none refers to God having no like, partner, or peer either in His Essence, or in His Attributes, or in His acts.
In meaning, each of these six phrases is both the result and proof of the others; proofs in sequence and the results arising from them in order are included in this sura to construct it as a fortress.
That is to say, included in Suratu’l-Ikhlas, appropriately to its stature, are thirty-six suras the parts of which are set in order to form both proofs and results of one another; this single sura is the horizon at which the thirty-six suras rise.
None knows the Unseen save God
Causes are purely apparent
Divine Grandeur and Dignity require that natural causes are, in the view of reason, a veil before the Hand of Power;
At the same time Divine Unity and Majesty require that natural causes have no hand in the coming into existence of the works of Power.
Existence is not restricted to the physical world
The unbounded forms of existence cannot be confined to this visible world; it cannot contain them;
The physical world is but a lace veil over the radiating worlds of the Unseen.
The universality of the Pen of Power demonstrates Divine Unity
The faultless works of art explicitly refute the creativity of causes at every point of origination;
The inscriptions of the Pen of Power necessarily reject the existence of intermediaries at every point of creation.
Nothing can exist without the existence of everything
Throughout the universe there is harmony and solidarity that is both concealed and observable – both in the inner and outer aspects of existence.
Both this solidarity and the cooperation – mutual assistance or reciprocal answering of needs – demonstrate that only an all-encompassing Power could do this: thus an atom is created and situated in a way appropriate for all its relations.
Every line and word of the book of the universe is animated; need urges them toward each other and acquaints them with each other.
Wherever it comes from, every call for help receives response: in the name of Divine Unity, all the surroundings are moved to help it in its need.
Every living word has a face that is turned and an eye that looks to all the sentences.
The sun’s motion is for gravity and gravity provides the stability of the solar system
The sun is a fruit-bearing body; it shakes itself so that its fruit – which are mobile – do not fall.
If it were to stop moving and come to rest, then gravity would cease and its ecstatic followers would scatter through space and weep.
Small things are interconnected to larger things
Certainly, the one who has created the eye of a mosquito has created both the sun and the Milky Way.
And the one who has ordered the flea’s stomach doubtlessly has set in order the solar system.
Also, the one who has given sight to the eye and need to the stomach has certainly adorned the eye of the sky with the kohl of light and spread a feast over the face of the earth.
There is a supreme miraculousness in the order of the universe
See, there is miraculousness in the organization of the universe; if to suppose the impossible all natural causes were agents that are able to do whatever they will,
They would, confessing their utter impotence in the face of this miraculousness, prostrate before it and declare: “All-Glorified are You! We have no power! Our Lord, You are the Eternal, All-Powerful One of Majesty!”
Everything is equal before the Divine Power
Your creation and your resurrection are but as (the creation and resurrection of) a single soul. (31:28)
The Divine Power is essential to and inherent in the Divine Essence; impotence cannot access It.
There can be no degrees in Divine Power, nor can any impediment in any way obstruct It. Whether they be universal or particular, all things are the same in relation to It.
For everything is interconnected to and interdependent on everything else; one who cannot make everything can make nothing.
One who cannot hold the universe in his hand cannot create a particle
If one does not have a hand that is powerful enough to lift the earth, the suns, and the stars – those innumerable bodies – and string them in order like prayer-beads,
And place them on the head and breast of endless space, they cannot claim to create anything in the world; they have no right to claim to have invented anything.
Raising a species to life is the same as raising an individual to life
Just as revivifying a fly that has gone numb in the death-like sleep of winter is not difficult for the Divine Power,
Likewise, neither the death of the earth nor its resurrection will pose any difficulty for the Divine Power.
Nor will the raising to life of all beings with spirits present any greater problem.
Nature is Divine art
Nature is not the printer, it is something printed;
It is not the inscriber, but the inscription; it is not the doer or the agent, it is the recipient; it is not the source, but the pattern.
It is not the one who orders, it is the order; it is not the power, but the law; it is a set of laws that issue from the Divine Attribute of Will; it is not a reality that has a materialized self-existence.
The conscience recognizes God through its attraction
In the conscience there is an attraction, an infatuation; the conscience feels that it is constantly attracted by the pull of an attractive force.
If the All-Beautiful, Gracious One was to manifest Himself permanently without a veil, conscious beings would be overcome with ecstasy.
The consciousness – the human conscious nature – testifies decisively to a Necessarily Existent One, One of Majesty and Beauty and Grace;
The feeling of attraction is a testimony, and so too is the feeling of being attracted.
The innate disposition given by the Creator speaks the truth
A thing’s innate disposition or God-given nature does not lie; whatever this innate disposition says is the truth. Given an inclination to grow, the tongue of the seed says: “I will sprout and yield fruit,” and what it says is proven true.
The inclination toward life murmurs in the depths of the egg: “If God wills, I will be a chick.” What it says is true.
If a handful of water intends to freeze inside an iron cannon-ball when it is cold enough,
The inclination to expand within it says: “Expand! I need more space.” This command cannot be resisted.
Strong iron sets out to work, and does not prove it wrong; the water’s truthfulness and honesty split the iron.
All these inclinations are Divine creational commands and each is a Divine decree. They are all Divine laws of creation and life, all manifestations of Will.
Divine Will directs all beings in this way: all inclinations conform to the commands of the Lord.
The Divine manifestation in the conscience is the same; the feeling of attraction and the feeling of being attracted are two pure “souls;”
They are two polished mirrors in which are reflected the eternal Beauty and the light of belief.
Prophethood is essential for humankind
The Divine Power, Which does not leave ants without a leader or bees without a queen
Surely would not leave humankind without a set of laws or a Prophet. The order of the universe self-evidently demands this.
The Ascension was for the angels what the splitting of the moon was for humankind
The angels saw in the Prophetic wonder of the Ascension a supreme sainthood within the undeniable Prophethood.
That shining person mounted Buraq (carrying him to heaven) and was like lightning; like the traveling moon, he saw the world of light throughout.
In the same way for humanity, which is scattered through this visible world, And the moon split (54:1) was an important, observable miracle;
So for the dwellers in the world of spirits, the Ascension, pointed out in, All-Glorified is He, He took His servant for a journey by night… (17:1) was the greatest miracle.
The proof of the affirmation of faith is within it
The affirmation of faith contains two sentences, each of which testifies to the other; one is an argument and proof for the other.
The first is the a priori argument for the second, and the second is the a posteriori argument for the first.
Life is a manifestation of unity
Life is a light of unity through which unity is manifested in this realm of multiplicity. Truly, a manifestation of unity unifies multiplicity, thus making it a unified entity.
Life causes a single thing to own all things together, while for a lifeless thing all things are non-existent.
The spirit is a law clothed in external existence
The spirit is a luminous law clothed in external existence and endowed with consciousness.
This spirit, which has a real, sensible existence, has become the brother, the companion, of that perceptible law.
Like established, constant natural laws, the spirit comes from the world of the Divine Command and the Attribute of Will.
The Power clothes it in a being with senses, attaches consciousness to its head, and makes an astral body the shell for that pearl.
If the Creator’s Power were to clothe the laws operating in species in external existence, each would become a spirit;
If the spirit was stripped of external existence and consciousness, it would become an undying law.
Existence without life is like non-existence
Both light and life are the causes for beings to reveal themselves and be known. See, if there is no light of life,
Existence will be stained with non-existence; indeed, it is like nonexistence. Even if it is the moon, it is a stranger and an orphan, unless it has life.
Thanks to life, an ant is greater than the earth
If you were to weigh an ant on the balance of existence, the universe to emerge from it could not be contained in our earth.
In my view, the earth is living. But if, according to what others suppose, you were to take the lifeless earth and place it in the other pan to the ant,
It would not amount to even half of the conscious head of the ant.
Christianity will follow Islam
Christianity will either become extinct or purified. It will surrender to Islam and give up arms.
It was fragmented repeatedly until finally Protestantism appeared, but it was unable to find there what was necessary to rectify it.
The veil was again rent, it fell into absolute misguidance. However, a part of it approached the affirmation of Divine Unity; in that it will find salvation.
It is preparing to be torn again. If it does not become extinct, Christianity will be purified and join Islam.
In this lies a mighty mystery to which the Pride of the Messengers alluded when he said: “Jesus will come and follow my Shari‘a; he will be of my Community.”
A partial or indirect view sees the impossible as possible
It is a well-known incident: a large group of people were scanning the horizon for the crescent moon to establish the beginning of the ‘Eid, but no one could see anything.
Then an aged old man swore that he had seen it. But what he had seen was a curved white eyelash.
The eyelash became his crescent moon. But how can a curved eyelash become the crescent moon? If you have understood our parable:
The motion of atoms has become the eyelash over your reason – a dark eyelash that blinds the materialist eye.
It cannot see the One Who has formed all species of beings, so misguidance comes upon you.
How can that motion replace the One Who has created and ordered the universe? It is a compounded impossibility to suppose the former to be the latter.
The Qur’an requires mirrors, not someone to act as a deputy
Rather than rational arguments, it is the sacredness of the source which encourages the mass of the Muslim Community and the common people to obey it and urges them to follow it.
Ninety per cent of the Shari‘a is comprised of the obvious, indisputable matters and essentials of Religion, each of which is a diamond pillar.
The matters which are open to interpretation, controversial and secondary, only amount to ten per cent. One who has these ten gold pieces cannot own the ninety diamond pillars or put them in their purse, nor can they make them dependent on the gold pieces.
The source of the diamond pillars is the Qur’an and Hadith.15 The pillars are their property and should always be sought in them.
Books and interpretations of the Shari‘a should be mirrors of the Qur’an or telescopes through which the Qur’an is examined. That sun of miraculous exposition does not need shadows or anyone to act on its behalf!
The falsifier of the truth adopts the false as true
Since by nature humans are noble, their purpose is to find the truth. However, sometimes falsehood comes to their hands, and supposing it to be the truth, they keep it in their breast pocket.
While digging out the truth, misguidance comes upon them involuntarily; supposing it to be the truth, they wear it on their head.
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi
15 The Hadith is the collection of Prophet Muhammad’s words, actions, and the actions that he approved of in others. As the second source of Islam, the Hadith is identical to the concept of Sunna and are based on Revelation. When not capitalized, the word hadith refers to a single, specific word or action of the Prophet or the word or action he approved of in others. (Tr.)