THE FOURTH TRUTH: The creation and maintenance of beings

 

 

The existence of all beings and their appearance in the field of existence; their living together and their being either the miniature or magnified versions of each other; the fact that some of them form or represent wholes and universals while others are their parts or individual members; the fact that they resemble each other in bearing the stamp of creation and the impression of artistry, together with many other commonalities and points of unity such as their mutual cooperation with respect to their essential duties as creatures of God—all of these point self-evidently to Unity of the Creator and make it clear that the universe is an indivisible whole under the control and direction of the same single Lord.

For example, each spring He creates, directs and provides for the innumerable members of hundreds of thousands of different species of plants and animals, all together and intermingled, simultaneously and in the same fashion, without any error or mistake, and with the utmost wisdom and perfection of artistry. Similarly, He creates all the different species of birds— from tiny flies, which are like birds in miniature, to eagles, which are the most majestic of birds—and equips them with the means of flight and subsistence. Furthermore, in addition to populating the skies with numerous species of birds, He imprints on their countenances a miraculous stamp of artistry, on their bodies an administrative seal of wisdom, and in their nature the evidence of particular attention, provision and nurturing. Also, with absolute wisdom and mercy He causes particles of food to hasten to the assistance of the cells of the body, plants to come to the assistance of animals, animals to rush to the aid of humans, and all mothers to attend swiftly to the needs of their powerless infants. Moreover, He works on and uses all things, be they particular or universal, from the Milky Way, the solar system and the elements of the earth to the veil which covers the pupil of the eye, the petals of the rose, the husk of the corn, and the seeds of the melon, like a series of intersecting circles, with the same orderliness, perfection of artistry, the same act and perfect wisdom. The fact that He does all of this establishes the following with self-evident certainty:

He who does these deeds is One and Unique, having His stamp on all things. In the same way that He is not in any one place, He is present in all places. Like the sun, all things are distant from Him, but He is close to all things. Just as objects such as the Milky Way and the solar system are not difficult for Him, so are the red and white corpuscles of the blood and the thoughts that occur to the heart not secret from Him, nor are they beyond the reach of His absolute control and direction. However great a being may be, its creation is as easy for Him as the smallest thing, for He creates with consummate ease a fly on the model of an eagle, a seed with the nature of a tree, a tree in the form of a garden, a garden with the artistry of a spring, and a spring on the scale of a resurrection. And He grants us the things most valuable in art most economically. The price that He asks of us is merely that we say “In the Name of God” and “All praise and gratitude are for God.” That is to say, the acceptable price for all those numerous precious bounties is to say when we begin to use or consume them “In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate,” and, once we have taken benefit from them, to utter the words “All praise and gratitude are for God.”

Since this fourth truth is also explained elsewhere in the Risale-i Nur, we content ourselves here with this brief indication.

Said Nursi