The Third Station

 

In this Station three universal signs of Divine Unity will be explained briefly.

The signs and proofs of Divine Unity and Its clear manifestations in the universe are innumerable. Since thousands of them have been elaborated on in The Lamp of Light, in this Third Station it will be enough to explain just three of these proofs briefly.

 

THE FIRST SIGN AND PROOF WHICH LEADS TO THE CONCLUSION THAT “HE IS ONE”

 

There is a unity in everything and this unity points to one. It is self-evident that a work which displays unity has originated from one maker. What is one certainly proceeds from one. And since there is a unity in all things, this certainly demonstrates that they are the works of a single being.

The universe is like a rosebud, wrapped in thousands a variety of veils of unity. It may even be said that it is a single macro-human, dressed in unities to the number of Divine Names and universal Divine works. One may call it the “tree of Touba”11 of creation, on the branches of which are hung unities to the number of species of creatures.

With respect to how the universe is raised, administered, maintained, and controlled, the universe displays unity in all of its features. The Names and Acts Which operate the universe and cause it to subsist also exhibit unity: each of them encompasses the universe as a whole, or most of it. That is to say, the wisdom at work in the universe is one and the same, the grace observed in the universe is one and the same, the regulation of the universe is one and the same, the provision made for the universe is one and the same, the mercy which hastens to the aid of the needy is one and the same, as is the rain, which is mercy’s sweet offering, and the same is true for all of its other features. The sun, that vast furnace of the world, is one and the same; the moon is its lamp and this too is one and the same. Fire is its means of cooking and this is one and the same; the mountains, which are our world’s stores of supplies, treasuries, and masts, are one and same. The water suppliers are one and the same and the sponges from which the rain that waters the gardens and vineyards emerges are one and the same, and so on for thousands of other similar features in our world.

All these instances of unity in the world are proofs indicating the Unique, Single One of Unity, and are as clear as the sun. Also, in addition to the fact that all the universal elements and the species inhabiting the earth are of unity, they exist intermixed with one another and help one another. This offers manifest proof that their Master, their Owner and Maker, is one and the same.

Said Nursi

11 The tree of Touba is the tree of Paradise and is used as a symbol for large, expansive things that have a number of branches. (Tr.)