The Thirteenth Ray
Quotations and selections from Said Nursi’s letters to his students
This Ray consists of the letters sent by Said Nursi to his students in 1943 and 1944. These highly valuable letters illustrate the great exertions of the Risale-i Nur.
In His Name, All-Glorified is He!
MY DEAR, FAITHFUL BROTHERS!
I congratulate you with all my heart and soul on the blessed Night of Power and Destiny which has passed and on the festival (Eid) yet to come, and I entrust you to the Unity and Compassion of the Most Merciful of the Merciful. Although in accordance with the well-known dictum, “Whoever believes in Divine Destiny is secure against grief,” I do not see you as being in need of consolation. I believe that I have seen an indirect reference to our state in the verse: So wait patiently for your Lord’s judgment, for you are under Our Eyes (under Our care and protection); and glorify your Lord with His praise (52:48), which gives perfect solace. It is as follows:
While we were thinking of passing a peaceful Ramadan, in forgetfulness of the world, this unimaginable and completely unendurable misfortune befell us. However, I have observed that it is pure grace for all of us— for me, for the Risale-i Nur, for you and our blessed month of Ramadan, and for the brotherhood which exists among us. I will describe only two or three of its many benefits for myself.
The first: The intense excitement and earnestness, and seeking refuge in God and imploring Him during Ramadan have overcome my serious illness and made me work.
The second: I had an intense longing to see all of you this year and be with you. I would have agreed to the difficulties I have now been suffering to see only one of you and to come to İsparta.
The third: All the painful events and circumstances we experienced both in Kastamonu and on the way here, and which we have been experiencing here, are suddenly changing in a most extraordinary way; contrary to all my apprehensions, a hand of grace shows itself, making me exclaim: “Good is in what God chooses.” This hand of grace makes certain heedless and high ranking worldly people read the Risale-i Nur, with which my mind is most occupied, with careful attention, opening up new fields for its triumphs.
While trying to endure my own pains, the pains and distress that each of you suffers were overwhelming me most. However, this calamity makes every hour of our life here into the equivalent of ten hours’ worship, and since the blessed month of Ramadan makes an hour equivalent to a hundred hours in merit, every hour of us here increases to a thousand hours of worship in merit. Therefore, rather than take pity on you and weep in sorrow at your state, I congratulate you. For sincere people such as yourselves, who have been taught perfectly by the Risale-i Nur, know that this world is a fleeting place of trade; such people sacrifice everything for the sake of their belief and their lives in the Hereafter. I thus appreciate and applaud your steadfastness and declare: “All praise and thanks be to God for all states other than unbelief and misguidance!”
I am convinced that there are such benefits to be had, not only for me but for you, our brotherhood, the Risale-i Nur and our blessed Ramadan, that if the veil were drawn back from the Unseen, it would make us declare: “Thanks be to You, O God! This Divine decree is an instance of Your grace for us.”
Do not blame those who were the cause of this state of affairs. The extensive and appalling plans for this calamity had long since been made, but it has struck us very lightly. God willing, it will pass quickly as well. Thus, in accordance with the message of the verse: It may well be that you dislike a thing but it is good for you, and it may well be that you like a thing but it is bad for you. God knows, and you do not know (2:216), do not be grieved.
Said Nursi
* * *
My dear brothers!
I am very happy to be close to you. I sometimes imagine that I am conversing with you and this consoles me. Know that if it were possible, I would proudly and happily endure all your difficulties. Because of you, I love Isparta and its environs down to its very stones and soil.
I can say that I am from İsparta in three respects. I cannot prove it historically, but I have the conviction that the ancestors of Said, who came into the world in the sub-district of İsparit (in Bitlis), went there from here. And the province of İsparta has given me such true brothers and sisters that I would happily sacrifice not only my own brother Abdülmecid and my nephew Abdurrahman, but my own self for each one of them.
I think that there is no-one on earth at this time who suffers less—in their hearts, spirits and minds—than the students of the Risale-i Nur. For due to the lights of certain, verified belief, the hearts, spirits, and minds of the Risale-i Nur students do not suffer distress. As for physical hardships, they know from the teachings of the Risale-i Nur that they are both transitory and trivial, and yield reward, and are a means by which the service in the cause of belief can develop in other channels, and so they meet these hardships with gratitude and patience. They prove through their behavior that certain, verified belief leads to happiness in this world too. They say “Let us see what God will do, for whatever He does, it is good,” and work steadfastly to transform these transient difficulties into permanent instances of mercy.
May the Most Merciful of the Merciful increase the numbers of such brothers; may He make them the cause of pride and happiness for this country and favor them with eternal happiness in the highest floor of Paradise. Amen!
Said Nursi
* * *
In His Name, All-Glorified is He!
My dear, faithful brothers!
I congratulate you once more on the religious festival. Do not be sad that we cannot meet in person; in reality we are always together and, God willing, we will accompany each other on the road to eternity. It is my opinion that the everlasting merits and the virtues and joys of the spirit and heart that you obtain in the service of belief reduce to nothing those temporary, passing sorrows and troubles you are suffering today. Up until now there have been no people who have suffered as few difficulties as the Risale-i Nur students in such sacred service. Indeed, Paradise is not cheap. To save people from absolute unbelief, which destroys the life of both this world and the next, is of great importance at this time. If there are some troubles, they should be met with enthusiasm, thanks, and patience. Since our Creator, Who employs us, is All-Compassionate and All-Wise, we should meet everything that befalls us with resignation and joy, and in complete reliance on His Mercy and Wisdom.
This comes to you from your brother who, by using the first person plural in all his prayers—for example, “Deliver us; have mercy on us; preserve us,”—includes all of you in them without exception; he works in accordance with the principle of our spiritual partnership, as though we were numerous bodies with single spirit; he is more concerned with your troubles than you are yourselves; and he awaits help, steadfastness, and intercession from your collective personality.
Said Nursi
* * *
My dear, faithful brother, Re’fet bey!
Since your learned questions have become the keys to many important truths contained in The Letters, I cannot remain indifferent to them. A short answer to this last question of yours is as follows:
Since the Qur’an is an eternal declaration which addresses all classes of humanity and all groups of worshippers, it certainly must possess numerous meanings and levels of meaning. Some Qur’anic commentators choose only the most general or the most explicit meanings, or those which express a necessary act or a confirmed practice of the Prophet, upon him be peace and
blessings. For example, some of them have understood And in the night-time, also glorify Him (52:49) as indicating the late-night Prayer (Tahajjud), which is an important sunna, and from the phrase At the retreat of the stars (52:49) they perceive an indication to the supererogatory Prayer that is performed before the morning canonical Prayer, an important practice of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings. However, the former sentence has numerous other meanings. My brother! Conversing with you does not cease.
* * *
My dear, faithful brothers!
Abundant heartfelt greetings! In former times in my native region we used to recite Suratu’l-Ikhlas a thousand times on the Day of ‘Arafa.56 Now I am able to recite it five hundred times on the day before and five hundred times on the Day of ‘Arafa itself. Those who feel able to do so may recite them all on the same day—the Day of ‘Arafa. I cannot see you and speak to you all personally, but most of the time I am able to converse with you all while praying to God, sometimes by name.
* * *
My dear brothers!
This morning, while reciting the tasbihat,57 my heart was filled with pity for Hafiz Tevfik, aware that this was the second time that troubles were beleaguering him. Then it suddenly occurred to me that I should congratulate him! With the excuse of being more precautious, he had wished to withdraw a little from his important position and his huge share in the service of the Risale-i Nur. But the sacredness and significance of his service led him once more to appropriate the same large share and vast merit. One should not keep aloof from spiritual honor as great as that on account of a little transient distress and hardship.
Actually, my brothers, everything passes, and when it has passed it will, if it was pleasure and enjoyment, become nothing, leaving only sighs of regret. But if it was distress and hardship endured for the sake of sacred service, it will yield such pleasurable benefits in both this world and the Hereafter that the distress is reduced to nothing. Apart from one of you, I am the most elderly, and it is I whom troubles overwhelm most. Yet I assure you that I am content with my situation and accept it with total patience, thankfulness, and endurance. Gratitude in the face of calamities is the reward to be had for enduring them with patience and for the benefits they contain regarding both this world and the next.
Said Nursi
56 The day of ‘Arafa is the day before the religious festival. (Tr.)
57 Tasbihat are the recitations of glorification, praise and exaltation of God Almighty. Those that are recited after the canonical Prayers are subhanallah (All-Glorified is God), al-hamdu lillah (All praise and gratitude are for God), and Allahu akbar (God is the All-Great). Each is recited 33 times. (Tr.)
* * *
My dear brothers!
With the disappearance of the obstacles which prevented the completion of the “Matters” of Fruits of Belief, the writing and copying of the treatises of the Light (Risale-i Nur) will resume, God willing. I approach this calamity from the perspective of Divine Destiny and Decree, for viewing things in this way transforms troubles into instances of mercy. As was explained in The Twenty-sixth Word—the treatise on Divine Destiny and Decree—there are two causes for every event. One is the apparent cause: people base their judgments on this and frequently do wrong or go astray as a result. The other is the truth of the matter, according to which the Divine Destiny judges: It acts with justice in all events in which humans do wrong.
For example, a person is sent to prison unjustly for a theft they have not committed. However, the Divine Destiny also sentences this person to imprisonment, but for a crime they have committed but which has remained hidden. Thus, the Divine Destiny acts justly where humans act unjustly. Bearing this in mind, there are two causes for the present suffering, the Divine purpose of which must be to sort the wheat from the chaff, the diamonds from the glass, the faithful devotees from those who vacillate in their belief, and the purely sincere from those who are unable to abandon their egoism and self-interest.
The first is that your powerful solidarity and your sincere and remarkable service as a group of students have aroused the suspicions of the worldly, including certain politicians; this is why they have wronged us in this way.
The second: Since not every individual among you could, on their own, display their worthiness for this sacred service with complete sincerity and total solidarity, the Divine Destiny considered this when apportioning our present suffering. However, the judgment of the Divine Destiny is pure mercy within pure justice, for it has caused those brothers who missed each other terribly to come together and it has transformed their hardships into worship and their losses into alms-giving. This has attracted people’s attention; as a result, the treatises you copy will find a wider audience. Also, this suffering will show more effectively that worldly possessions, children, and comforts are fleeting: we will in any event leave them behind when we enter the grave. So, in order not to damage our eternal lives, we should become accustomed to patient endurance. In this way you will be heroic role models for the believers of the future; you may even be their leaders.
But there is one point that causes me to pause. If a single finger is wounded, the eye, the mind, and the heart neglect their important duties and become preoccupied with it. In the same way, our troubled lives preoccupy our hearts and spirits with their wounds. For example, just when I should have been forgetting the world, circumstances preoccupied me with a struggle against a certain secret society. I was consoled by the possibility that God Almighty might accept this state of heedlessness as a sort of intellectual striving.
I received the greetings of Ali Gül, the brother of Hafiz Mehmed, the esteemed teacher of the Risale-i Nur. I send greetings and prayers to him, to all his fellow villagers and to all the people of Sava, both living and dead.
* * *
In His Name, All-Glorified is He.
My dear, faithful brothers!
Your constancy and steadfastness confound all of the plans hatched by secret societies and hypocrites.
Truly, my brothers, there is no need to hide it: these heretics compare the Risale-i Nur and its students with certain esoteric movements. Their aim is to refute and scatter us, and so they attack us with the same kind of scheming with which they have blocked those other movements.
Firstly: They attempt to intimidate and frighten, and try to identify faults in those movements, as well as in us.
Secondly: They endeavor to find faults in their leaders and their followers which they can then publicize.
Thirdly: They try to corrupt them by tempting them with the alluring vices and pleasurable but stupefying poisons of materialist philosophy and civilization. They try to destroy their solidarity, blackening the names of their leaders with treacherous lies and discrediting their way of thought with certain principles of science and philosophy. However, the path of the Risale-i Nur is established on complete sincerity and the abandonment of egoism; it is based on the search to find mercy in troubles and permanent pleasures in pains, and to show the existence of grievous pains in transitory, dissolute pleasures; it is to teach that belief is the means to innumerable pleasures in this world as well, and to instruct in matters and truths that the hand of no philosophy can reach. Since its path is such, God willing, all treacherous plans hatched against it are bound to come to nothing.
* * *
My dear brothers!
Last night while I was reciting my regular invocations, some others could hear me. I wondered anxiously whether an invocation offered out loud would decrease its merit. Then I remembered a famous saying of Imam al-Ghazzali: “Sometimes doing supererogatory acts of worship in the open is better than doing it in secret.” That is, if one recites loudly or performs their supererogatory acts of worship openly, without intending to show off, or obtain a worldly advantage, and if others benefit from it, are moved to imitate it or are aroused from heedlessness, or if it becomes a means of displaying the public symbols of Islam and preserving the honor of the faith, then reciting aloud or performing voluntary acts of worship openly may be much more meritorious.
* * *
My brothers!
If the short letters written before to console you, like this one, are read from time to time; if Fruits of Belief, particularly its last “Matters,” are studied together; if any of the matters dealt with in the Risale-i Nur that you happen to remember are discussed, God willing, this will gain for you the honor of being students of the religious sciences. Preeminent figures such as Imam ash-Shafi‘i, may God sanctify him, attached the greatest importance to this, saying, “Even the sleep of the students of (religious) sciences is counted as worship.” Whatever circumstances one finds oneself in, whatever happens, should be disregarded when there is the possibility of studying truths as elevated as these. In fact we should smile happily at these troubles. As for the families of our needy friends and their responsibility to maintain them, it is a rule of the Qur’an and belief that we should consider those who are worse or poorer than ourselves in matters of hardship and poverty, and those who are more advanced in matters of belief and spirituality. Those who are able to do so are better off than eighty per cent of the people. Rather than complaining, they should offer eighty degrees of thanks. The families are entrusted to their true Provider, (in Whom we must trust). Since the reality is this, we should say God is sufficient for us, how excellent a Guardian is He! and offer thanks.
* * *
My brothers!
I have to explain something which occurred to me this morning. For twenty years I have been considering the viewpoints of heretical philosophers and asking myself what objections they can put forward concerning the crystal-clear truths that we have taken from the Qur’an. In truth I cannot find any weak point which either my own carnal soul or Satan and the philosophers could use as a pretext for an attack.
We are working for the sake of a truth which is unshakeable, elevated, vast, elevated, and of inestimable value—so much so that even if one were to sacrifice one’s life for it, the price would still be cheap. Given this, we should indeed respond with complete steadfastness to all of the tribulations, distress, and hostilities that face us. Our enemies may also attempt to confront us with a number of deceived hojas, sheikhs and apparently pious people. We must preserve our unity and solidarity in the face of their attacks, and neither worry about them nor argue with them.
Said Nursi
* * *
My dear, faithful brothers!
A pious, righteous person in Kastamonu complained: “I have declined (after I entered the circle of the Risale-i Nur); I have lost my former spiritual state, my lights and illuminations.” I told him:
“It may actually be that you have advanced, leaving behind illuminations, pleasures and spiritual unveilings which may have flattered your ego, causing the fruits of belief and good deeds which should be experienced in the Hereafter to be tasted while still in this world, thus provoking your self-centeredness. Through modesty, humility, self-abasement, and the abandonment of egoism and fleeting pleasures perhaps you have risen to a higher station.” Actually, an important Divine favor lies in not allowing the person who has yet to give up their egoism to actually perceive that favor so that they do not become proud or conceited.
My brothers! Given this reality, those who think like that person, or who consider the brilliant stations that the good opinion of others give, will look at you and, when they see that the students among you who appear in the garment of humility, self-abasement, and service are common, ordinary people, they will say: “Are these the ones who have been deemed heroes of the truth ready to challenge the whole world? Who on earth are they? How can they be the ones who are performing the kind of sacred service that even the saints are unable to perform at this time?” If they are friends, they will experience disappointment; if they are opponents, they will find their opposition justified.
Said Nursi
* * *
My dear, faithful brothers!
The treatise on Fruits of Belief (The 11th Ray) is both important and extremely valuable. It is my hope that in time it will serve belief and the Qur’an considerably. You must have understood its value thoroughly, given that you have not made this place of study deprived of its lessons.
Numerous experiences have given me the firm conviction that serving belief and the Qur’an through the Risale-i Nur considerably lessens one’s distress and gives one’s heart a feeling of expansiveness. When I am not busy with reading or writing it, distress doubles and I find myself getting upset over trifling things. Although for various reasons I thought that Husrev, Hafiz Ali, and Tahiri would be suffering most, I saw that they themselves and those close to them had the greatest self-possession, tranquility, submission, and ease of heart. I asked myself why, and I now know the answer. You see, they are occupied only with their true duties and are not distracted by anything frivolous or unbeneficial. They do not question the judgments of the Divine Destiny ad Decree and they are neither bombastic nor critical, both being conditions that arise from egotism. They have honored the students of the Risale-i Nur and, with their self-possession, steadfastness, and inner contentment have demonstrated the moral and spiritual strength of that blessed work in the face of countless heretics. May God Almighty bless all of our brothers with true dignity and heroism on account of their utter humility and self-abasement. Amin!
* * *
My brothers!
An awesome egotism arising from heedlessness and love of this world prevails at this time. The people of truth, therefore, must abandon egotism and selfishness. If the students of the Risale-i Nur dissolve the ice-block of their egotism in the shared pool of their collective personality, they will not be shaken by this storm, God willing. Actually, a tried and tested method of the hypocrites is to saddle people who enjoy a certain social status with some trivial problem, thus irritating them and making them critical of one other. By tempting them to struggle with each other, they destroy their morale. Then the hypocrites are able to deal blows quite easily at those who have lost their strength and in this way destroy them. Since the students of the Risale-i Nur are treading the path of love, unity, and “self-annihilation in the brothers,” God willing, they will bring turn the schemes of their opponents to ashes.
* * *
My dear, faithful brothers!
A spiritual guide once had so many pupils that the government saw them as a possible political threat and wanted to scatter their community. The spiritual guide told the government: “I only have one and a half followers and no more. If you like, we can put it to the test.” So he pitched a huge tent and gathered together all of his thousands of pupils there. He told them: “I am going to put you to the test. Whoever is sincerely my pupil and complies with my command will go to Paradise.” He began to summon them into the tent one by one. But he had had a sheep slaughtered secretly, and the sheep’s blood covered the ground, the point being to pretend that the guide had killed his favorite pupil and dispatched him to Paradise.
When the thousands of followers saw the blood, they no longer obeyed the guide and began to denounce him. Only one man stepped forward, saying “May I be sacrificed for you.” Then a woman stepped forward too, while the rest dispersed. The guide told the government officials: “Now you have seen for yourselves that I only have one and a half followers!”58
Endless thanks be to God Almighty that these troubles and hardships caused the Risale-i Nur to lose only one and a half of its students. Through the efforts of the heroes of Isparta and its environs, thousands have stepped forward to replace them.
58 Since women are not responsible for certain religious obligations that men are—such as the Friday congregational Prayer, and are exempt during their period and post-childbirth bleeding from the religious obligations that they do normally, the spiritual guide regarded her as a half follower. (Tr.)
* * *
Once, a non-Muslim tricked his way into being the heir to a Sufi leader and began to guide the disciples of the brotherhood. The followers under his training began to advance, but then one of them discovered that their guide had suffered a serious decline. Being perceptive, the guide told his disciple: “So you have understood.” But the disciple said: “Since it was by following your guidance that I have risen to this station, I will follow you even closer from now on.” He prayed to God Almighty earnestly for the salvation of his guide, who all of a sudden began to advance and, outstripping all of his disciples in spiritual excellence, became their true guide. This means that sometimes a disciple becomes the guide of his guide. What is truly good and praiseworthy is that when one sees their brother immersed in evil or sin, they do not abandon them, but rather strengthen the tie of brotherhood and try to reform the friend. This is the true characteristic of one who is loyal and faithful. The hypocrites tend to take advantage of such situations and in order to destroy the solidarity of believers, they spoil their good opinions of each other, saying: “See, those to whom you attach so much value and importance are just common, ordinary people.” In any case, the misfortunes we suffer will, God willing, yield significant results which will benefit all believers. Similar incidents which befall certain other people on account of their political aspirations or for other reasons cannot yield the same results.
* * *
Since the strange signature at the beginning of the Old Said’s work Lemeat59 coincides with a small change with my present circumstances and exactly with my seventieth year, I have included it here. If you consider it suitable, you can add it at the end of Fruits of Belief and the short letters. That strange signature consists of the following lines:
Said Nursi
59 It was translated into English and published in Gleams of Truth—Prescriptions for a Healthy Social Life, Tughra Books, 2010, New Jersey. (Tr.)