The Second Chapter
This concerns the various stations or degrees of the meaning of, God is sufficient for us; how excellent a Guardian He is! It consists of five points.22
THE FIRST POINT
This phrase is a tried and tested remedy for the illnesses which arise from humanity’s innate impotence and poverty. Indeed, God is sufficient for us, how excellent a Guardian He is23 is true on account of the following:
He is the One Who is eternally Self-Existent and Who gives existence. Therefore, it does not matter if beings decay and disappear, for the things we love continue to exist through the continued existence of the Necessarily Existent One Who has given them existence.
He is the All-Permanent Maker and Originator, so the decay of creatures should cause no sorrow, for the means by which their Maker is loved— namely His manifestations—are permanent.
He is the All-Permanent Sovereign and Master, so there should be no regrets concerning the decay of His dominions or properties, which, once they have decayed and departed, are continuously renewed.
He is the All-Permanent, All-Knowing Witness, and therefore no grief is felt at the disappearance from this world of the things that we love, for they exist eternally in the Knowledge and Sight of their All-Permanent Witness.
He is the All-Permanent Owner and Originator, and thus there should be no pain felt with regard to the disappearance of things we find beautiful, for the source of their beauty in their Originator’s Names endures for all eternity.
He is the All-Permanent Inheritor and Restorer to Life, and so there should be no lamenting at separation from those we love, for the One Who will continue to exist after them and restore them to life is All-Enduring.
He is the All-Permanent All-Beautiful and All-Majestic One, and therefore there should be no distress at the disappearance of beautiful things, for these beautiful things are the mirrors of the All-Beautiful Names, Which endure together with their beauty after the mirrors have disappeared.
He is the All-Permanent All-Worshipped and All-Beloved One, and thus there should be no sorrow for the demise of any created, “metaphorical” beloveds, for the True Beloved is truly Eternal.
He is the All-Permanent All-Merciful and All-Compassionate, All-Loving, and All-Pitying One, and so there should be no distress at and no importance be given to the decay of the apparent givers of bounties and the affectionate ones, for the One Whose Mercy and Affection encompass all things endures forever.
He is the All-Permanent All-Beautiful, All-Gracious and All-Kind One, and thus the decay of gracious and affectionate beings should not cause sorrow or grief, for the One Who substitutes for of all of them, and a single manifestation of Whom, even if they work all together, they cannot substitute, is forever Eternal.
His eternal Permanence, with all the sacred Attributes that are mentioned, is substitute enough for every sort of transient, ephemeral beloved in this world. God is sufficient for us, and how excellent a Guardian He is! Truly, in place of the permanence of the world and whatever is in it, the eternal Permanence of their Master, Maker, and Originator is sufficient.
THE SECOND POINT
Sufficient24 for permanence is that God is He Who is my All-Permanent Deity, my All-Permanent Creator, my All-Permanent Inventor, my All-Permanent Originator, my All-Permanent Master, my All-Permanent Witness, the All-Permanent Object of my worship, and the All-Permanent One Who will restore me to life after my death. Therefore:
There is no harm in the decay of my being and I should feel no sorrow or regret at its passing, for my Maker endures eternally, and His Making and Creating through His Names are permanent. Whatever attribute or characteristic I have in my person is but one of the rays of one of His eternal Names, and so the decay and death of this characteristic does not herald its eternal extinction, for it exists permanently in its Creator’s Knowledge and is witnessed eternally within His Sight.
Likewise, it is sufficient for me in respect of permanence and the pleasure derived from permanence that I know, am aware, and believe that I have an All-Permanent Deity and it is the rays of one of His permanent Names which shine in the mirror of my nature. The reality of my nature consists in nothing but a shadow of this Name, and it is on account of Its manifestation in the mirror of my being that my being has a value and is worthy of love. Also, it is due to the permanence of what is manifested in it that my being has many varieties of permanence.
THE THIRD POINT25
God is sufficient for us, and how excellent a Guardian He is! For He is the Necessarily Existent One; these flowing beings are but the results of the renewal of the manifestations of His Existence and His giving of existence to others. Endless lights of existence are gained through Him and through being connected to Him and having knowledge of Him: without Him, there is nothing but the endless veils of darkness of non-existence and the limitless pains of separation.
These flowing, transitory beings are but mere mirrors, and with the changing of their relative or nominal determinations they are renewed in six aspects in their transience, decay, and permanence:
The first: The permanence of their beautiful meanings and their “ideal” identities in the World of representations or “ideal” forms.26
The second: The permanence of their forms in the “ideal” tablets in the World of representations or “ideal” forms.
The third: The permanence of their results which pertain to the Hereafter.
The fourth: The permanence of their glorifications of the Lord, represented and recorded on their behalf, which is a sort of existence for them.
The fifth: Their permanence in perpetual scenes and in the exhibitions pertaining to Knowledge.
The sixth: The permanence of their spirits, if they possess one.27
For the various duties that these beings perform and the states they assume in their death, transience, decay, and annihilation, and in their coming into existence and disappearing are required by the Divine Names. It is because of these duties that beings are like a flood that flows with the greatest speed on the waves of life and death, of existence and non-existence. It is also on account of these duties that there is perpetual activity and continuous creation in the universe. We must all, therefore, declare that: God is sufficient for us, and how excellent a Guardian He is! That is, with regard to existence, it is sufficient for me that I am the work of the Necessarily Existent Being: to be favored with this illuminated existence for a passing instant is preferable to millions of years of apparent, fruitless existence. By virtue of connection to God through belief, a minute of this existence is equal to thousands of years without the connection of belief; the existence of that single minute is more complete and extensive than those thousands of years.
Similarly, it is sufficient for me for existence and the value of existence that I am the art of the One Whose Grandeur is in the heavens and Whose signs are on the earth, the One Who has created the heavens and earth in six “days.”
It is sufficient for me for existence and its perfection that I am the artifact of the One Who has adorned and lit up the heavens with lamps and decorated the earth with flowers.
It is sufficient for me for pride and honor that I am the creature, bondsman and servant of the One in relation to Whose Perfection and Beauty the universe with all its perfections and beauties is merely a dim shadow, and which is composed of the signs of His Perfection and the indications of His Beauty.
Sufficient for me for all things is He Who stores up in tiny containers between the kaf and the nun28 uncountable bounties, and Who, through His Power, deposits tons of bounties in a single handful of these subtle containers, called seeds and grains.
Sufficient for me in place of everything beautiful and beneficial is the All-Gracious, All-Beautiful and All-Compassionate One. For all these beautiful creatures are but transient mirrors for the renewal of the lights of His Grace and Beauty in the course of the seasons, the centuries, and the ages. And all these recurring bounties and successive fruits of spring and summer are but the ever-renewed manifestations of His continuous Act of favoring, in certain degrees, during the lives of creatures and over the course of days and years.
It is sufficient for me for my life and its true nature that I am a map, a summary, a balance, and a measure of the manifestations of the Names of the Creator of life and death.
It is sufficient for me for my life and its functions that as my life is the result of the manifestations of the Essential Characteristics of my Originator and His All-Beautiful Names, I am a word inscribed with the Pen of Power, indicating and making understood the Names of the Absolutely Powerful One, the All-Living and Self-Subsistent.
It is sufficient for me for life and its rights that since the dress of my existence, the gown of my inborn nature, and the necklace of my life are decorated with the gifts of His Mercy, I display and proclaim the manifestations of the Names of my Creator among my brother (or sister) creatures and exhibit them in the sight of the Creator of the universe.
It is sufficient for me for the rights of my life that I understand, observe, and bear witness to all forms of worship living creatures offer to the Bestower of life.
It is sufficient for me for the rights of my life that I have been adorned with the embossed jewels of the bounties of the eternal Sovereign, presenting them to His gaze with the consciousness that comes from belief.
It is sufficient for me for life and its pleasures that I possess knowledge, conviction, awareness and belief of my being His servant, His artifact, and His creature; it is sufficient that I know I am needy and wanting before Him, and that He is my All-Compassionate, All-Munificent, and All-Gracious Creator, Who bestows on me freely and nurtures me in a manner befitting His Wisdom and Mercy.
It is sufficient for me for life and its value that through my absolute impotence, poverty, and weakness I am a measure of the degrees of the manifestation of the Power of the absolutely Powerful One, the Mercy of the absolutely Compassionate One, and the Strength of the Possessor of absolute strength. Through my limited, particular attributes of knowledge, will and power, I am also a mirror through which the all-encompassing Attributes of my Creator are understood. For instance, I am able to understand His all-encompassing Knowledge through the measure of my limited, particular knowledge.
It is sufficient for me for perfection that I know that my Deity is Absolutely Perfect, and that whatever perfections exist in the universe are signs of His Perfection and indications of It. Also sufficient for me for perfection is my belief in God, for belief is the source of all of humankind’s perfections.
And it is sufficient for me, for all my countless different needs, the satisfaction of which is sought through the tongues of my various members and faculties, that my Deity, my Lord, my Creator and Fashioner, possessed as He is of All-Beautiful Names, feeds me and gives me drink, nurtures, and raises me, and speaks to me—exalted is His Majesty and all-inclusive are His favors.
THE FOURTH POINT
Sufficient for me, for all my desires and demands, is He Who has opened up my form and that of all my fellow living creatures from a fluid through His subtle Art, all-penetrating Power, subtle Wisdom, and His subtle Lordship.
Sufficient for me, for all my purposes, is He Who has made me, opening up my ears and eyes, including my tongue and my heart in my body, and placing in them and in my other faculties countless precise scales that weigh up the contents of the varieties of the treasuries of His Mercy. He has also placed in my tongue, my heart, and my nature innumerable sensitive instruments to understand the varieties of the treasures of His Names.
Sufficient for me is He Who has included, through the majesty of His Deity, the graciousness of His Mercy, the grandeur of His Lordship, the munificence of His Kindness, the supremacy of His Power, and the subtlety of His Wisdom, all of these members and organs, limbs and systems, senses and feelings, faculties and spiritual powers in my insignificant, lowly person and in my weak and wanting being in order to make me perceive all the varieties of His bounties and taste and to help me experience most of the manifestations of His Names.
THE FIFTH POINT
I, together with everyone else, should, with pride and thanks, declare verbally and in the tongue of my disposition:
Sufficient for me is the One Who has created me and taken me out of the darkness of non-existence, bestowing on me the light of existence;
Sufficient for me is the One Who has made me a living being, bestowing on me the gift of life, which gives all things to those who possess it and allows them to stretch out their hands to all things;
Sufficient for me is the One Who has made me human, bestowing on me the favor that is humanity, which makes one the microcosm, greater in meaning than the macrocosm;
Sufficient for me is the One Who has made me a believer, bestowing on me the gift of belief, which makes this world and the Hereafter like two tables laden with bounties, and which offers them to the believer with the hand of belief;
Sufficient for me is the One Who has made me a member of the Community of His Beloved, Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, bestowing on me love for God and God’s love for me, both of which are found in belief and are the highest degrees of human perfection. And through this love, which originates in belief, He has expanded the area of munificence for believers so that they are able to benefit from the infinite contents of the spheres of contingency and necessity;
Sufficient for me is the One Who, by not making me an inanimate object, an animal, or one who has been left in misguidance, has made me superior to the majority of creatures in respect of nature, species, religion, and belief: all praise is for Him and all thanks are due to Him;
Sufficient for me is the One Who, as described in the hadith qudsi: “Neither the earth nor the heavens can contain Me, but the heart of my believing servant can contain Me;”29 has bestowed on me a gift which the universe cannot contain. For, in the same way that the essential nature of humanity is a comprehensive mirror held up to all of the Divine Names Which are manifested in the entire universe, He has made me a comprehensive mirror for the manifestations of His Names;
Sufficient for me is He Who, in order to preserve it and later return it to me, has bought from me the property that He has entrusted to me and promises to give me Paradise in return. All praise and thanks are due to Him, to the number of the atoms of my being multiplied by the number of the atoms in existence;
Sufficient for me is my Lord: exalted is His Majesty!
And Muhammad, the Light, may God’s blessings be upon him!
There is no deity but God!
Sufficient for me is my Lord: exalted is His Majesty!
My heart’s innermost life is the remembrance of God
And the remembrance of Ahmad, may God’s blessings be upon him!
There is no deity but God!
Said Nursi
22 Thirteen years ago, I looked down on the world from the hill of Yuşa, an elevated part of Istanbul. Like everyone, I was captivated by the classes of creatures I could see, one surrounding the other, and by the beauty here. The interest I felt in this was at the degree of intense love. However, I could also see in my mind that all those creatures were moving toward decay and mortality. I then felt a powerful pain of separation, and a darkness arising from endless separations. Suddenly, the verse God is sufficient for us; how excellent a Guardian He is! came to my aid with its thirty-three degrees of meaning. I was reciting them in a way to follow and which suggested the possibility of different meanings and realities. Each of the seven blessed phrases that I recite between the evening and late evening or early night Prayers would have been included in The Gleams. In the end, only five of them were included: the other two, which are about the ranks or degrees of the meaning of God is sufficient for us; how excellent a Guardian He is, and There is no might and strength save with God, were left out. They would have been written as The Fifth and Sixth Gleams, but they have been included here in The Rays. Since they concern contemplation and remembrance rather than knowledge, they have been written in Arabic.
23 I once witnessed numerous lights and degrees of meaning in this blessed phrase and it has saved me from many terrible veils of darkness and danger. Referring to these circumstances and the various degrees of meaning in this phrase, I wrote down brief reminders in the form of paragraphs or even words. As a remedy for the very painful and deep ailments that arose from my worries about the decay and death of the vast world and the creatures in it, which fascinated me, I found God is sufficient for us, how excellent a Guardian He is! The initial expressions at the beginning of every paragraph indicate this truth.
24 In the same way that I saw the manifestations of the enduring Names of the All-Permanent One of Majesty behind the ephemerality and decay of the world and of external existence, and was thus absolutely consoled, I also considered my own self. Since the various levels of my inner existence, my personal characteristics and the realities of my personal life, of which I am enamored, are going toward decay and death, I realized that I had been seeking permanence in those transient things under the influence of the innate human desire for immortality. I came to see that I was a place where my Creator’s eternally enduring Names were manifested. I observed in the decay of every characteristic of mine a permanent manifestation of the Name Which it had been embodied with. I came to understand, to the point of certainty, that the innate love of permanence in human nature has its source in the love of God. But humans search for their beloved in the wrong way. Instead of searching for and loving the One Who has manifested Himself in the mirror, as they should, they love the mirror itself or the apparent forms of the reflection in the mirror. In this way they come to adore their own selves instead of adoring Him: instead of “He!”, the only word on their lips is “I!” They are only able to realize their mistake when decay sets in. The heart and the nature of humankind is a conscious mirror. A human being feels consciously or is aware innately of what is manifested in them, and loves this eternally.
25 I had been reflecting on the degrees of meaning of a very important reality—one which has uncovered the mystery behind the continuous activity that underpins the unending cycles of life and death, which is the most all-consuming dilemma in the universe. It has been explained in The Twenty-fourth Letter. This Point shows the fact that decay and death are the titles of other different kinds of existence, and yield the fruits of numerous instances of existence. It shows that anything which decays or dies leaves behind many instances of existence in its place. So, things which are transient and perishable will continue to exist in many respects. A seed rots and dies under the soil but leaves in its place a shoot to grow into a plant or tree which will yield a hundred fruits containing seeds. It is because of this that it is not proper to fear death or feel regrets at decay.
26 The World of representations or “ideal” forms is the realm where things exist with their immaterial representations or reflections. Like a building, which has levels or degrees of existence, for example, the building in the mind of its architect, and the building on the plans, and its final, physical existence, things have degrees or levels of existence: they have pure existence in God’s Knowledge, and existence as a project of Destiny or Divine Determining, and existence in the form of “ideas” or immaterial representations, and their corporeal existence. (Tr.)
27 The permanence of the spirit has been convincingly explained in The Twenty-ninth Word.
The laws determining their reality and nature and the principles of their composition, have the same meaning for beings that have no spirits as the spirit does for those beings who are endowed with spirit. These laws and principles are permanent. For example, a fig tree decays and dies, but its “spirit,” which consists in the laws of its formation, organization and growth that issue from the Realm of Divine Commands, continues to exist in its seeds. This “spirit” does not die, and the forms are renewed exactly in accordance with it, which is how the nature of the tree continues to exist. For its nature is a shadow of one of the eternal Beautiful Names of God, gaining permanence through a ray of that eternally permanent Name, with its identity continuing to exist in numerous “ideal” tablets that belong to the World of representations or “ideal” forms. Therefore, non-existence (in the form of decay and death) is nothing more than the title of the transition of a decaying instance of existence to numerous instances of permanent existence.
28 Kaf and nun are the letters k and n of the Arabic imperative kun (Be!), which signifies the Divine order “Be!” uttered by God when He wills to bring something into existence. (Tr.)
29 Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, “az-Zuhd” 81; ad-Daylami, al-Musnad, 3:174.