THE SECOND FACT WHICH NECESSITATES DIVINE UNITY

 

This is that there exists an ease and a facility in unity which renders belief in Divine Unity necessary. Associating partners with God, on the other hand, involves so many difficulties and contradictions that it is simply impossible. This truth has been explained in detail with decisive proofs in many of the treatises of the Risale-i Nur—which is also called “The Lamp of Light”—especially in The Twentieth Letter and briefly in The Fourth Part of The Thirtieth Gleam. A brief summary is as follows:

If all things are ascribed to one single Being, the creation and administering of the entire universe become as easy as the creation and administering of a single tree, the creation of a single tree becomes as easy as the creation of a single fruit, the origination and regulation of springtime become  as easy as the origination and regulation of a single flower, and organization and nurturing of a whole species become as easy as the organization and nurturing of a single member of that species.

By contrast, when partners are associated with God Almighty and all things are ascribed to (physical or material) causes and “nature,” the creation of a single individual becomes as difficult as the creation of a whole species, or indeed of many species. The creation and decoration of a single flower become as problematic as the creation and decoration of a whole spring or many springs, the creation of a single piece of fruit becomes as complicated as the creation of a whole tree, or rather of hundreds of trees, and the bringing into being, nurturing, regulation, and administering of a tree become as hard as, if not harder than, bringing into being the whole universe.

This reality has been demonstrated amply in The Lamp of Light—The Risale-i Nur. Since, as we can easily observe before us, there is a superabundance of beings, yet everything is at the highest degree of artistry and value and, despite the fact that each living being is a wonderful mechanism with numerous miraculous components and members, all living beings come into existence in absolute profusion with infinite ease and extraordinary speed, just like striking a match, all of this demonstrates self-evidently that this superabundance and ease arise from unity and the fact that they are the works of a single Being. Otherwise, there would not be this combination of economy, abundance, speed, ease, and value; a piece of fruit that is now bought for five cents could not be purchased for five hundred dollars or would be so rare as to be completely unobtainable. Also, the creation of living beings, which we now see is as easy as setting a watch or operating a mechanism by pushing a button, would be so difficult that it would be impossible. Animals, which come into existence together with all their physical organs and systems in a day, an hour, or a minute, would not be able to come into existence in a year, a century, or perhaps ever at all.

It has been decisively demonstrated in as many as a hundred places in The Lamp of Light that if all things are attributed to the Single, Unique One of Unity, their coming into existence is as easy, as speedy, and as economic as a single thing. But if causes and nature are given a role, the creation of a single thing becomes as difficult, as slow, and as expensive as the creation of the whole universe. If you wish to see the proofs of this truth, you may refer to The Twentieth and Thirty-third Letters, The Twenty-second and Thirty-second Words, The Twenty-third Gleam— which is concerned with nature—and The Thirtieth Gleam—which concerns the Greatest Name or the Divine Name that has all-encompassing manifestations; in particular examine The Fourth and Sixth Parts of this, which deal with the Names “the All-Independent Single One” and “the Self-Subsistent by Whom all subsist,” respectively. Below we will allude to only one of these hundreds of proofs:

A thing is either created ex nihilo or is composed from elements and other things. If it is attributed to a single Being, that Being must have an all-encompassing knowledge and power that prevails over all things. Therefore, the bestowal of external existence on things, which have a kind of immaterial existence within His Knowledge, or bringing them out of apparent non-existence, is as easy and simple as striking a match or spreading a special liquid over a text composed in invisible ink to reveal what has been written, or transposing an image from photographic film to paper. Through the command of “Be!” and it is, the Maker brings things into external existence from apparent non-existence.

If a thing is composed from elements or other things, and not created out of non-existence or nothingness, it resembles the members of a regiment who were dismissed to rest being gathered together at the call of a bugle and assembled in orderly fashion. All the movements of the members of the regiment take place under the power, orders, and eye of the commander. Similarly, all the particles or atoms which comprise a certain thing are under the absolute command of the Sovereign of the universe: they move, are mobilized and come together according to the principles of His Knowledge and Determination (Destiny), and in keeping with the laws of His pervasive and prevailing Power. In order to form the body of a living being, they enter and are established in an immaterial mold specified by Divine Knowledge and Determination or Destiny in appointed measures and proportions. All the other things with which they come into contact in this process act as though they were conscious forces, laws, and officials of that Sovereign.

However, if things are ascribed to different agents and causes and to nature, then as all reasonable minds agree, none of these can in any way create something from nothing and from non-existence. For none of them has either an all-encompassing knowledge or an all-prevailing power. Because of this, the non-existence in question would not be only apparent non-existence: it would be absolute. And absolute non-existence can in no way be the origin of existence. Given this, the coming into existence of a being can only be by way of composition. But then, the particles or atoms which constitute the body of, say, a fly or a flower would have to come together from all over the earth and pass through a fine sieve. This would clearly entail innumerable difficulties or impossibilities. Even if we suppose this to be possible, since there would be no immaterial molds appointed by an all-encompassing knowledge to preserve them in orderly fashion without dispersing, there would have to be as many actual material molds as the number of a being’s members for the particles or atoms which come together to form its body.

Thus, when attributed to a single Being, the existence of all things is so easy that it becomes necessary; when attributed to numerous causes or origins, there are so many difficulties involved that it is simply impossible. Similarly, when the existence of all things is attributed to the Unique, Single One of absolute Unity, they become valuable, full of art, meaningful, and impressive to the utmost degree, as well as being infinitely economic. But if one takes the way of associating partners with God and ascribes them instead to nature and numerous causes or origins, they immediately lose all value and become totally lacking in art, meaning, and stability, as well as being infinitely costly.

When a man joins the army and becomes affiliated with the commander-in-chief, learning to rely on him, he finds that he can count on the moral support of the army whenever it is needed. Also, since the power of the army is his reserve force, he gains a physical power thousands of times greater than that which he has as a mere individual. Furthermore, since the army as a whole carries the sources of that significant power and ammunition, he does not have to carry them. As a result, since that soldier has attained the power to carry out extraordinary feats, even though he is only a mere private, he will be able to capture an enemy field-marshal, force all the inhabitants of a town to migrate, or seize control of an enemy fort. His works will be exceptional and of great worth. If, however, he leaves the army and remains on his own, he will lose that extraordinary power and moral support: consequently, like a common deserter, the feats he will be able to perform will be in proportion with his personal strength as a single soldier, and will thus be relatively insignificant and of little value.

Similarly, since Divine Unity ensures that everything becomes connected with and relies upon the All-Powerful One of Majesty, an ant is able to defeat the Pharaoh, a fly is able to bring down Nimrod, and a mere microbe is able to fell a tyrant. Also, a seed the size of a fingernail is able to bear on its shoulders a tree the size of a mountain and serve as the source and origin of all the tree’s parts and members, as though it were their workbench. The same connection and reliance with Divine Unity also enables all particles or atoms to perform a limitless number of duties in the formation of countless bodies, which are each full of innumerable kinds of arts. The works in which those miniscule officials and tiny soldiers are employed are exceedingly perfect and of the highest art and value, for the One Who produces them is the All-Powerful One of Majesty. He employs them in the production of those works and makes them veils over His Acts. However, if attributed to causes, the works of an ant would be as insignificant as the ant itself, while the artistry in a particle or atom would not have the least value. Everything would become worthless in respect of the meaning it has, as well as physically, and no one would offer as much as a penny for the entire world.

Since this is the reality, and it is clear that everything is exceedingly valuable, full of artistry, flawless, and replete with meaning, there can be no way other than the way of Divine Unity to explain the existence and administration of all things. If there were another way, it would be necessary to change all beings, empty the world into non-existence, and then refill it with meaningless junk, so that a way could be opened up to associating partners with God.

So now you have heard a brief summary of just one of the thousands of proofs for the truth of Divine Unity in the Risale-i Nur, which is also called “The Lamp of Light.” You may make analogies with this for the others.

Said Nursi