A CONCISE REPLY TO A TWO-PART QUESTION CONCERNING THIS STATION
The first part of the question: You claim in this Station that beauty, grace, goodness, and justice prevail throughout the universe, but what do you say concerning the ugliness, disasters, illness, tribulations, and death we see around us?
The answer: A single instance of ugliness that results in or manifests numerous instances of beauty is, indirectly, an instance of beauty. Whereas the non-existence or concealment of an instance of ugliness which then causes numerous instances of beauty to remain hidden is not a single, but a manifold, ugliness. For example, if there were no ugliness to function as a unit of comparison or measurement, there would be only one sort of beauty and the numerous varieties and degrees of beauty would remain concealed. For it is through the intervention of ugliness that diverse and increasing degrees of beauty appear. Just as the degrees of heat become apparent through the existence of cold and the degrees of light are perceived on account of the existence of darkness, so too do particular instances of evil, ugliness, harm and impairment cause universal instances of good and beauty and universal benefits and bounties to become manifest. This means that the creation of ugliness is not ugly: it is beautiful because most of its results are beautiful. Rain has so many good and beneficial results that people have called it mercy. Thus, the lazy-minded man who suffers some inconvenience when it rains cannot be a reason for rain to be regarded as evil: he cannot cause mercy to be considered as harm.
As for decay and death, it is demonstrated convincingly in The Twenty-fourth Letter that they are not contrary to universal mercy, to all-embracing beauty, or to all-inclusive good; rather, they are necessitated by them. Even the creation of Satan is good, for he causes people to strive against him and to compete among themselves in order to accomplish good deeds, which are the sources of the spiritual progress of humankind. Also, since unbelievers transgress the rights of all beings and affront their dignity through unbelief, to punish them with the torments of Hell is also good. As this matter has been explained in detail in other treatises, a brief indication here is sufficient.
The second part of the question: We can accept the answer with respect to Satan and the unbelievers from a general point of view, but how is it that the Absolutely Beautiful One, the Absolutely Compassionate One, the Absolutely Good and Self-Sufficient One, inflicts evil, calamities, and ugliness on certain wretched individuals?
The answer: Whatever good, beauty, and bounty exist, they are directly from the treasury of Mercy of that Absolutely Beautiful and Compassionate One and from His particular favor. As for evils and calamities, they are relatively rare occurrences among the numerous outcomes of the general, universal laws of the Sovereignty of the Divine Lordship, which are called “God’s usual practice” (‘adatullah). As these evils represent certain particular results of the implementation of the general or universal laws in question, God the All-Mighty creates these rare occurrences of evil in order to preserve these laws, which are the means to universal benefits. But in the face of these minor evils, He responds to the cries for help of individuals who are afflicted by calamities and tribulations with the special assistance of His Mercy and the particular favors of His Lordship. By demonstrating that He acts in whichever way He wills; by showing that (humankind and jinn have been equipped with free will and are responsible for their decisions and acts); by reminding that whatever takes place in the universe and whatever proceeds from, or is done, by any creature, is through His permission; by making it clear that universal laws are also always subject to His Will, and that an All-Compassionate Lord hears the individuals who cry out under the pressure of these laws and that He comes to their aid with His favors—by demonstrating all of this, not only has He opened up an infinite field for the infinite manifestations of His All-Beautiful Names, but He has also opened the doors of His manifestations of special favor and assistance in the face of His universal laws, thus making Himself loved by His servants.
As this second sign of Divine Unity has been explained in perhaps a hundred places in The Lamp of Light (Risale-i Nur), this brief indication will suffice.
Said Nursi