Proofs of Divine Will

 

 

Now we discuss the matter of “Will,” which is in The Summary of Summaries:

God is the All-Great—greater than all things in power and knowledge, for He is the All-Willing. Whatever He wills occurs; whatever He does not will does not occur. For every creature with its own specific essence, particular attributes, individual nature, and distinctive identity and form, is created with the finest and most precise order within a limitless number of possibilities and confused probabilities, amid intervening and mutually opposing elements that flow chaotically like floods, and in the midst of its numerous fellows which resemble one another, a further cause of disorder. Also, every creature is subjugated to a precise, perfect, and regular order, and all its members and organs are appointed and attached to it with a sensitive, exact balance, and measure. Furthermore, each living creature is given a well-proportioned, beautiful, and unique face, and all its different members and organs are created living and with perfect art from simple, lifeless matter. For example, a human being is created with a hundred different organs from a droplet of fluid; a bird is made with numerous different members and organs from a simple egg and clothed in a miraculous form; and a tree is produced or is made to grow from a tiny seed comprising simple, lifeless carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen, together with its branches and twigs and various other members and parts; it is then dressed in an orderly, fruitful form. This proves that all of the facts mentioned are possible only through the Will, Choice, Volition, and Judgment of the Almighty and All-Glorified One. Similarly, the correspondence in physical structures and basic systems among the members of a species shows that their Maker is One and Unique. Also, the fact that each member is different and distinguishable from others demonstrates that the One and Unique Maker does whatever He wills and judges however He wills.

 

All of this is a universal proof of the Divine Will, which comprises many arguments. Also, all the above-mentioned proofs of Divine Knowledge are also proofs for the Divine Will. Every creature displays the manifestations and works of Knowledge and Will one within the other. The indubitable testimony of a single creature to Divine Will shows that all creatures testify to the Divine Will, Which encompasses all things, with a certainty as clear as the sun, and that they comprise countless proofs of the necessary Existence of an All-Powerful, All-Willing One.

All the proofs for the Divine Knowledge mentioned above are also proofs for the Divine Will, since both operate together with Divine Power. One cannot exist without the other. In the same way that all the correspondences and conformities between the bodily organs of the members of a species indicate that their Maker is One and the same, the wise and purposeful differences and distinction in their facial features indicate definitely that their One and Unique Maker has absolute Will, doing whatever He wills, however He wills. He creates everything with Will and Choice, and for certain purposes.

The discussion about Divine Will ends here. I had intended to write many more important points in this regard, but since my mind has been exhausted on account of illness, it must be postponed to another time.

Said Nursi