The second luminous aspect of God’s Sufficiency

 

 

At a time when old age, exile, solitude, and isolation were added to my endless innate impotence, and when “the worldly” were attacking me with their spying and their scheming, I told my heart: “Armies are attacking a single man whose hands are tied, and who is ill and weak. Is there no point of support for me?” I then had recourse to the verse, God is sufficient for us; how excellent a Guardian He is, and it informed me of the following:

Through belief you become connected to the Ruler of Absolute Power, Who is such that every spring He equips with perfect order armies of plants and animals on the earth, which comprise hundreds of thousands of different “nations.” He also renews the uniforms of the two magnificent armies that are the trees and flying creatures, clothing them afresh. As He changes the outer garments of the hens and peacocks, ever renewing and beautifying them, He also changes the dresses of the mountains and the veils of the plains.

Furthermore, as the All-Merciful One, He places in tiny protective cases the sustenance of all animals and humans in the form of extracts of all kinds of foods, which we call seeds and grains, and which may be likened to meat, sugar and other food extracts recently discovered, but which are a hundred times more perfect. He includes in those extracts the instructions of Destiny or Divine Determination concerning their growth and development into edible foods. The creation of those tiny cases take place with such speed, ease and abundance in the “factory of Kâf–Nûn”19 that the Qur’an states that the Creator merely commands something to exist and it comes into being (i.e., 2:117; 3:47; 6:73). Although all those extracts resemble one another, are of the same matter and would not fill a town, the exceedingly diverse and delicious foods which the All-Munificent Provider cooks from them could fill all the towns on the earth.

Since you have such support through the connection to God enabled by belief, you can rely on infinite strength and power. When I learned this lesson from the verse, I found such a moral strength that I felt my belief was powerful enough to challenge not only my present enemies but the entire world. With all my spirit I proclaimed, “God is sufficient for us; how excellent a Guardian He is!”

Seeking a source of help for my infinite poverty and need, once again I had recourse to the verse. It now said this: through the relationship of servanthood and worship you belong to an All-Munificent Master and are recorded in His notebook of provision—a Master Who, every spring and summer, prepares a lavish spread upon the table of the earth and removes it a hundred times over, producing foods from behind the veil of the Unseen, from unexpected places and from beneath the dry earth. It is as though the years and the days are all containers for the fruits of bounty and foods of mercy that appear in continuous succession. They are exhibitions for the degrees of the bestowal, both universal and particular, of an All-Compassionate Provider. You are the servant of such an absolutely Wealthy One. If you are conscious of your servanthood, your grievous poverty will be transformed into pleasurable appetite. Learning this lesson, I placed my trust in God and proclaimed with my soul: “Surely that is right! God is sufficient for us; how excellent a Guardian He is!”

Said Nursi

19 The factory of Kâf–Nûn” refers to God’s command of “Kun! (Be!)”, which He says to something that He wills to be. The Qur’an declares: When He wills a thing to be, He but says to it “Be!” and (in the selfsame instant,) it is (36:82). (Tr.)