Divine Power

 

 

God is the All-Great, greater than all things in power and knowledge, for He is All-Powerful over all things with an absolute, all-encompassing Power Which is essential and intrinsically indispensable to the All-Pure and Holy Essence. Therefore it is impossible and inconceivable that this Power should have an opposite which could intervene in It. Furthermore, that Power is absolutely free of gradation: equal before It are atoms and stars, the part and the whole, the particular and the universal, the seed and the tree, the universe and humanity, as confirmed by the perfect order, balance, measurement, harmony, distinction, and precision that are observable, together with or despite the absolute ease, abundance, speed, and intermingling. This is because of the existential facts such as luminosity and transparency—the Divine Power is free of matter and the dimension of things with which the Power deals is immaterial, luminous and transparent—and reciprocity and interrelation among things, and the exact balance, order, and obedience in creation. This is also because of the assistance of Divine Unity, the ease coming from the unity of the source, and because of the manifestation of Divine Oneness or Uniqueness. This is also because His existence is absolutely necessary and He exists by Himself; because He is absolutely free of matter and totally different from the created, and also because He is unrestricted, indivisible, and uncontained by space. This is also because nothing impedes Him; rather, (like the veins in our bodies or metal wires that conduct electricity or other subtle forces,) the things which are supposed to form obstacles and impediments actually serve as a means of facility (although He has no need for any help in conducting or executing His commands). Whatever He creates has the same quality of art—the atom, the part, the particular, the seed, and the human are in no way less beautiful or less artful than the star, the whole, the universal, the tree, and the universe. Whoever creates the latter creates the former. Also, in relation to the large universals that encompass the particulars and the wholes that encompass the parts, the individual parts and particulars which are encompassed are like, for example, a seed in which a huge tree is inscribed with miniature letters, or like the drops milked or squeezed from what encompasses them. So there is no doubt that the large entities and universals are in the grasp of the Creator of the small, encompassed things and particulars which they encompass: He includes or inserts the universal into the particular with the scales of His Knowledge, and filters the particular from the universal with the principles of His Wisdom. The copy of the “Qur’an of glory” which is inscribed in an atom with particles of ether is not less in eloquence or marvels of art than the copy of the “Qur’an of grandeur” written on the pages of the heavens in the ink of stars and suns. Similarly, in relation to the Power of the universe’s Creator, a rose is not less in eloquence or beauty of art than a pearl-like star; nor is an ant inferior to an elephant or a germ to a rhinoceros. Also, the absolutely perfect speed and ease in the creation of things cause the people of misguidance to confuse creative formation with self-formation, which entails endless impossibilities and is beyond all probability and assumption. While the utmost and perfect speed and ease in the creation of things lead the people of right guidance to the certainty that stars and minute atoms are the same in relation to the Power of the Creator of the universe, all-exalted is His Majesty! And there is no deity but He, and He is the All-Great.

 

Before proceeding to explain briefly this piece concerning the supreme matter of Divine Power, I deem it necessary to express a truth. It is as follows:

The existence of Divine Power is more certain than the existence of the universe. Indeed, every single creature is an embodied word of Divine Power: they all demonstrate the existence of that Power to the degree of certainty based on vision. They testify in countless ways to the Absolutely Powerful One, the One qualified by that Power. There is no need to prove that Power with further proofs. What is left to be done is to prove an awesome truth concerning Divine Power, declared in the verse, Your creation and your resurrection are but as (the creation and resurrection) of a single soul (31:28). This truth is a most formidable foundation of the Resurrection and Supreme Gathering, one of the most important bases of faith, and a most necessary means to understanding numerous matters of belief and Qur’anic truths. Since not everyone has been able to find a way to reach it by means of reason, some people have remained bewildered concerning Divine Power or have even denied It.

The basis in question or the foundation, the means, and truth, is the very meaning or content of the above verse. That is to say: “O humans and jinn! The re-creation and raising to life of all of you on Judgment Day is as easy for My Power as the creation and resurrection of a single individual!” Divine Power creates spring as easily as It creates a single flower. The particular and the universal, the small and the large, the many and the few are also the same for that Power. It turns planets as easily as It turns atoms.

The above passage explains a most conclusive, powerful proof of this awesome reality. It comprises nine steps, the very foundation of which is indicated by the following:

God is the All-Great, greater than all things in power and knowledge, for He is All-Powerful over all things with absolute, all-encompassing Power, essential and intrinsically indispensable to the All-Pure and Holy Essence. Therefore, it is impossible and inconceivable that that Power should have an opposite which could intervene in It. Furthermore, that Power is absolutely free of gradation: equal before It are atoms and stars, the part and the whole, the particular and the universal, the seed and the tree, the universe and humanity.

That is, Almighty God’s Power is absolute in the sense that It is able to do everything, for It encompasses all things. It is essential to the Necessarily Existent One; in terms of logic, It is intrinsically indispensable to Him and it is impossible that It should be separated from Him. Since the All-Pure and Holy Essence has such indispensable Power, Its opposite—impotence—could certainly in no way intervene in It. Impotence could in no way blight the All-Powerful Essence. Since the existence of degrees in a thing is through the intervention of its opposite—for example, the degrees and levels of heat exist through the intervention of cold and the degrees of beauty through the intervention of ugliness—impotence, the opposite of this essential Power, can in no way approach It. Therefore, there can be no degrees or grades in that absolute Power. Since there can be no degrees in It, stars and atoms are equal before that Power and there is no difference for It between the part and the whole or between an individual and a species. Thus, it is equally easy for that Power to revive a seed, a huge tree, or the entire universe; it is as easy for that Power to revive a single human individual and all beings with spirits at the Resurrection. There is no difference between the great and the small, the many and the few. Conclusive proofs of this truth are the perfect art, order, harmony, balance, distinction, and abundance that we see in the creation of things together with or despite the absolute speed and ease with which they are created.

 

THE FIRST STEP: ....as confirmed by the perfect order, balance, and measurement, harmony, distinction, and precision that are observable, together with or despite the absolute ease, abundance, speed, and intermingling.

This step has already been explained above.

 

THE SECOND STEP: This is because of the existential facts such as luminosity and transparency—the Divine Power is free of matter and the dimension of things with which the Power deals is immaterial, luminous and transparent—and reciprocity and interrelation among things, and the exact balance, order, and obedience in creation.

A detailed explanation of this paragraph can be found in the final part of The Tenth Word, The Twenty-Ninth Word, and The Twentieth Letter; here we will expound it very briefly.

Because the sun is a light-diffusing object, through the Power of the Lord, its light and image enter the whole surface of the sea and all its bubbles or foams as easily and at the same instant as they enter a single fragment of glass. Given this, it is as easy for the absolutely matter-free Power of the Light of Lights to create and rotate the heavens and stars as it is to create flies and atoms and rotate them: neither causes It the least difficulty.

Also, on account of the quality of transparency, the sun’s light and image are present with the same ease in a single transparent thing—in a tiny mirror or in the pupil of the eye, for example—in the same way that, through the Divine Command, the same light and image are reflected on all shining things, transparent objects, drops of water, and on the surface of the entire sea. Similarly, since the inner faces or immaterial dimensions and natures of things are transparent and shining, the absolute Power creates the entire animal kingdom with the same ease as It manifests Itself in the creation of a single individual: there is no difference between the many and the few, the great, and the small.

Also, on account of the quality of balance, if two walnuts of equal weight were put on a pair of absolutely precise scales which were large enough to weigh mountains, and a little seed was added to one of the walnuts, it would raise one of the pans as high as the peak of a mountain and lower the other to the bottom of the valley with the same ease. If, instead of two walnuts, two mountains of equal weight were placed in the pans, and a walnut was added to one, it would raise one pan to the skies while lowering the other to the valley bottom. Experts in theology (Kalam) say: “Contingency means the equality of two possibilities.” That is, if there is nothing to necessitate their existence or non-existence, the things whose existence and non-existence are not intrinsically necessary are equal in regard as to whether they exist or not. The few or the many, the big or the small are the same in regard to this contingency and equality. Thus, creatures are contingent, and since they are contingent, their existence and non-existence are equal. This being so, it is as easy for the limitless eternal Power of the Necessarily Existent One to give existence to all contingent beings as it is to give it to a single contingent being. Thus, the fact that the eternal Divine Power gives existence to all contingent beings as easily as giving existence to a single contingent one destroys the balance of non-existence or removes the equality between the existence or non-existence of contingent beings in favor of their existence; this Power clothes every contingent thing with an appropriate being. When the being’s duties of life are completed, the Power removes its garment of external existence and dispatches it to apparent non-existence; however, in fact this is an existence that resides within the sphere of His Knowledge. This means that if things are attributed to the Absolutely Powerful One, the creation of spring becomes as easy as that of a single flower, and the raising to life of all humankind at the Resurrection is as easy as raising to life a single soul. But, if they are attributed to “natural” causes, a flower becomes  as difficult to create as spring and a fly as difficult as all living beings.

Also, due to the order or orderliness in creation, it is as easy to set in motion a large ship or an airplane merely by pressing a button with one’s finger as it is to work the mainsprings of a clock by turning the key with one’s finger. Similarly, since all things, be they universal or particular, large or small, many or few, have each been given an immaterial mold, a particular measure and proportions, and particular limits through the principles and laws of God’s eternal Knowledge and Wisdom and the universal manifestations and specific principles of the Divine Will, they act within the bounds of the order established by the Divine Knowledge and are bound to the laws of the Divine Will. Therefore, rotating the solar system and causing the ship of the earth to move around its annual orbit through His infinite Power is as easy for the absolutely Powerful One as making blood circulate in a body, as making the red and white corpuscles move around in the blood, and making the tiny atoms in the corpuscles move in absolute order and for wise purposes. From a droplet of fluid He creates a human being, together with its wonderful organs, on the pattern of the universe without the least difficulty. This means that if attributed to the eternal, infinite Power, the creation of the universe is as easy as the creation of a single human being. But if not attributed to that Power, it would be as difficult to create a single human being together with its wonderful organs, members, and senses as it would to create the entire universe.

On account of the principles of obedience and compliance, with the command of “Forward march!” a commander impels a private to attack; with that very same command, he can, with similar ease, drive forward an entire army into battle. In the same way, all creatures, save for those endowed with free will, are absolutely obedient to the laws of the Divine Will: they are thousands of times more obedient than dutiful soldiers and subservient to the Lord’s commands of creation and life with innate eagerness, and they always act within the limits set by the eternal Knowledge and Wisdom. Thus, it is as easy for the Divine Power to create an entire army of living beings in springtime and to assign them their duties as it is to clothe an individual living being with existence through the command: “Come into existence out of non-existence and begin your duty of life!” in a manner determined by Divine Knowledge and in a form specified by Divine Will. This means that if everything is attributed to that Power, the creation of the entire army of atoms and battalions of stars is as easy as the creation of a single atom and a single star. If attributed to “natural” causes, however, the creation of an atom in the pupil of an animal’s eye or brain, together with its ability to perform a range of amazing duties, would be as difficult as the creation of an entire army of animals.

 

THE THIRD STEP: This is also because of the assistance of Divine Unity, the ease coming from the unity of the source, and because of the manifestation of Divine Oneness or Uniqueness.

That is, on account of his independent sovereignty over all of his subjects and the fact that all his subjects obey his commands alone, it is as easy for a ruler to govern a large empire comprising many nations as it is to govern the people of a village. Because of the unity of the source from which the laws or rules issue, the members of the nation, like the soldiers of an army, obey the ruler without confusion and the laws are easily executed. However, if the government were left to various rulers, confusion would reign, and governing a single village would be as difficult as governing an entire country. And since the obedient nation is dependent on the single ruler, relying on his power and the strength of his army with its equipment stores, each member of the army may take an enemy king captive and perform works far exceeding his own individual strength. His connection with the ruler secures for him an extremely formidable power, so that he may perform great tasks. But if this connection is severed, he loses that vast power and can perform works only to the extent of his own petty strength and the arms and ammunition on his back. If he were required to perform all the works that he carried out in reliance on the power of his connection with the ruler, he would have to have in his possession the strength of the entire army, together with all of the stores of arms and ammunition belonging to the ruler.

In the same way, since the All-Powerful Maker and Monarch of all eternity is the unique, all-independent Sovereign over the whole creation, He creates the universe as easily as He creates a city, He creates spring as easily as He creates a garden, and He raises to life all the dead at the Resurrection as easily as He creates the leaves, flowers, and fruits of the trees of an earthly garden in spring. He creates a fly easily on the pattern of a large eagle and an individual human being on the pattern of the universe. By contrast, if attributed to “natural” causes, a germ would be as difficult to create as a rhinoceros, and a piece of fruit would be as difficult as a huge tree. It would even require that every atom which performs amazing tasks in the body of a living creature should be given an eye that sees all things and knowledge that knows all things in order to perform those subtle, perfect, and vital duties.

Also, there is absolute ease in the unity of the source. For if an army is equipped from one source, from one factory, then it becomes as easy to equip all of the troops as it is to equip a single soldier. However, if numerous different hands interfere in the provision of the army’s equipment, with different items being supplied from different factories, then a single soldier’s equipment could be prepared only with a thousand difficulties, and, due to the interference of various authorities, it would be as difficult to equip one solider as it would a thousand. Also, if the command of a thousand soldiers is given to a single officer, in one respect it becomes as easy as that of a single soldier, whereas if it is left to ten officers or the soldiers themselves, commands become confused and contradictory, and are carried out only with great difficulty, if at all.

Yet if all things are attributed to the Single One of Unity—the One Who has absolute authority over creation both as a whole and individually—they become as easy as a single thing; if they are attributed to causes, a single living creature becomes as difficult to create as the entire earth, or even impossible. This means that ease or facility in unity is at the degree of necessity—such that it makes the existence and government of a thing necessary. And the difficulty that arises from the interference of numerous hands amounts to impossibility.

If the alternation of day and night with the gradual, precisely calculated lengthening and shortening of each, or the movement of the planets and the alternation of the seasons of the year, are left to a single organizer or authority, that unique and all-independent Commander simply orders the earth, which is His soldier, to “Rise up, rotate, and travel!” Out of the joy and delight it feels at being the addressee of this royal command, with two motions like a Mevlevi dervish in ecstasy, it easily becomes the means of the daily and annual changes and the apparent, imaginary movements of the sun, thus demonstrating the complete facility that unity engenders. But if the alternations and movements in question were left not to the single Commander but to the many different causes and the caprices of the planets, the sun and the earth, and the earth were told: “Stop where you are and do not move!”, every night and every year the earth, the sun and the planets, and even thousands of huge galaxies that may somehow be connected with the solar system, would have to cross countless light years so that these heavenly and earthly results—such  as the seasons and the alternation of day and night—might come about. This would be so difficult as to be impossible.

The phrase, because… of the manifestation of Divine Oneness or Uniqueness indicates an extremely subtle, profound, and extensive truth. A detailed explanation and proof of it can be found in the Risale-i Nur; here we will outline just a single point by means of a comparison.

By illuminating the entire earth at the same time, the sun provides an example of Divine Unity, (which is marked by the all-encompassing manifestation of God’s Names throughout the universe all at the same time,) while through its image and seven-colored light that appears in each and every transparent thing that faces it, such as mirrors, it forms an example of Divine Oneness or Uniqueness, (which the particular manifestation of God’s Names on things individually indicates). If the sun had knowledge, power, or will, and the fragments of glass and drops and bubbles of water in which the tiny suns appear had the necessary capacity, through the law of Divine Will, a real sun with all its attributes would be present in each and every thing at the same instant. Its simultaneous presence in all things over the face of the earth would cause no deficiency in its power to be present in or near a single thing with all its manifestations; through the Command and Decree of the Lord’s Power it would be the cause of truly extensive manifestations, thus demonstrating the extraordinary ease in oneness or uniqueness.

Similarly, just as in manifesting His Unity, the All-Majestic Maker is all-present and all-seeing everywhere through His Knowledge, Will, and Power, Which encompass all things simultaneously, so in manifesting His Oneness or Uniqueness, He is present together with His Names and Attributes in all things individually—the animate in particular—so that with the greatest of ease He creates in an instant a fly on the pattern of an eagle and a human being on the pattern of the universe. He creates living creatures in a way so miraculous that if all causes were to gather together, they could not make even a nightingale or a fly. And just as the One Who creates the nightingale is the One Who creates all birds, the One Who creates a human being is the One Who creates the whole universe.

 

THE FOURTH AND  FIFTH STEPS: …. This is also because His existence is absolutely necessary and He exists by Himself; because He is absolutely free of matter and totally different from the created, and also because He is unrestricted, indivisible, and uncontained by space.

Only one or two points of this passage will be explained here in brief. The absolutely All-Powerful One has the rank of absolutely necessary existence, which is the most formidable, stable, and powerful of all ranks of existence. His existence is also eternal, beyond all time and space. Furthermore, He is absolutely free of matter and totally different from the created in both essence and nature. Thus, in relation to His Power, the creation and management of the stars are as easy as the creation and management of minute particles; the resurrection of the dead is as easy as bringing about spring, and raising to life all the dead at the Resurrection is as easy as raising to life a single soul. For a thing the size of a fingernail which belongs to a species at the levels of existence that are powerful may hold and manipulate a mountain from an insubstantial level of existence. For example, a mirror or faculty of memory from the level of powerful, external existence may hold a hundred mountains or a thousand books respectively from the level of existence of the World of representations or “ideal” forms, which is weak and insubstantial, and thus have disposal over them. Therefore, however inferior in respect of power the “ideal” or representational existence is to the level of external, physical existence, the created, accidental existences of contingent beings are infinitely more inferior and weaker than the eternal, necessary Existence. Consequently, through a minuscule manifestation of It, that sacred Existence can manipulate a world from the worlds of contingent beings. Regrettably, my illness and certain other important reasons do not permit me to go into further explanations, so we refer the reader to an elaboration of this lengthy truth and its fine points in the relevant parts of the Risale-i Nur and to another time.

 

THE SIXTH STEP: This is also because nothing impedes Him; rather, (like the veins in our bodies or metal wires that conduct electricity or other subtle forces,) the things which are supposed to form obstacles and impediments actually serve as a means of facility (although He has no need for any help in conducting or executing His commands).

That is, owing to a manifestation of Divine Will and a law of the Divine Command of creation and life, which science calls “the knot or nucleus of life,” the unconscious, hard branches and twigs of a huge tree do not form obstacles or impediments to the necessary substances and foods which go to its fruit, leaves, or flowers from that nucleus of life, which is the tree’s mainspring and stomach; rather, they facilitate the operation. Similarly, all things that are supposed to form obstacles to the creation of the universe cease to be obstacles in the face of the manifestation of Will and the operation of the Lord’s Command and become a means of facility. Consequently, the eternal Power creates the universe and all the species of creatures on earth as easily as It creates a single tree. Nothing at all is difficult for It. If all these acts of creation are not attributed to that Power, then the creation and manipulation of that single tree would be as difficult as the creation and manipulation of all trees, indeed, of the whole earth. For then, everything would form obstacles and obstructions. If all causes were to gather together, they could not send the necessary sustenance to the fruits, leaves, branches, or twigs in an orderly, regular fashion from the stomach or the mainspring of the tree’s “knot or nucleus of life”—which is a manifestation of Divine Command and Will—unless all the parts of the tree, even all its atoms, possessed sight, all-encompassing knowledge, and extraordinary power, and were able to comprehend the entire tree together with all its parts and atoms in order to know and assist them.

So, climb these six steps and see what difficulties—indeed, impossibilities—there are in unbelief and associating partners with God and how unreasonable, illogical, and precluded they are. Then see what ease and what reasonable, acceptable, and decisive truths there are in belief and the way of the Qur’an and how the existence of things becomes necessary through this easiness and truth. Understand this, and say: “All praise and gratitude are for God for the favor of belief!”

The illnesses and difficulties I have been suffering have caused the remaining part of this important step to be postponed.

 

THE SEVENTH STEP: Whatever He creates has the same quality of art; the atom, the part, the particular, the seed and the human are in no way less beautiful or less in art than the star, the whole, the universal, the tree, or the universe.

(NOTE: The basis, source and sun of the truths contained in these nine Steps are the following verses from Suratu’l-Ikhlas: Say: “He— [He is] God, [Who is] the Unique One of Absolute Oneness. God—[God is He Who is] the Eternally-Besought [Himself in need of nothing].”. They are brief indications of the gleams of the manifestation of God’s being the One, the Unique Who has concentrated manifestations of His Names and Attributes on things individually, and His being the Eternally-Besought, while He is in no need of anything at all.)

 

After giving a very brief explanation of this seventh step, we refer the reader to a more detailed discussion of the subject in the Risale-i Nur.

An atom which performs amazing duties in the eye or brain is not less with regard to the beauty of art and wonders of creation than a star; nor is a part less than its whole. For example, the brain and eye are not inferior to a human body of which they are parts. Nor is a particular individual less with regard to the beauty of art and the wonders of creation than a species; nor with its wonderful organs, senses, and faculties is a human being inferior to all the animate species; nor, in respect of perfect craftsmanship and its being a store or resembling a complete list of contents, a program, and memory bank, is a seed inferior to the mighty tree which grows from it; nor, with respect to their perfect creation and their wonderful, comprehensive organs and faculties, placed there to perform thousands of amazing duties, is a human being—the microcosm—inferior to the whole universe. This means that the One Who creates the atom must be able to create the star. And the One Who creates an organ like the tongue can, self-evidently, create a human being easily. And the One Who creates a single human being so perfectly can undoubtedly create all animate beings with perfect ease, as He does before our very eyes. And the One Who creates a seed to resemble a list, an index, a notebook of the laws of creation and life, as a “knot or nucleus of life,” is certainly the Creator of all trees. And the One Who creates the human being to resemble a sort of seed of the universe and as its comprehensive fruit, favoring them with the manifestations of His Divine Names and making them a mirror to these Names—the One Who makes the human being connected to the entire universe and appoints them as the vicegerent on earth most certainly has such Power that He is able to create the universe as easily as He creates a single human being and to set it in order. This being the case, whoever is the Creator, Maker, and Lord of the atom, the part, the particular individual, the seed, and the human being must also be the Creator, Maker, and Lord of the stars, all species, all universals, all trees and, indeed, the entire universe. It cannot be otherwise.

 

THE EIGHTH STEP: Also, in relation to the large universals that encompass the particulars and the wholes that encompass the parts, the individual parts and particulars which are encompassed are like, for example, a seed in which a huge tree is inscribed with miniature letters, or like the drops milked or squeezed from what encompasses them. So there is no doubt that the large entities and universals are in the grasp of the Creator of the small, encompassed things and particulars which they encompass: He includes or inserts the universal into the particular with the scales of His Knowledge and filters the particular from the universal with the principles of His Wisdom.

That is, in relation to the large wholes and universals which encompass them, the individual parts and particulars which are encompassed are like a seed in which a huge tree has been inscribed in miniature letters. Thus, the encompassing universals must be within the grasp of the Creator of the particulars and completely under His disposal so that, with the scales of His Knowledge and Its fine pens, He can include that huge all-encompassing book in hundreds of miniscule sections or notebooks; that is, He can insert a huge tree in its numerous seeds. Or in relation to the encompassing wholes or universals, the encompassed parts or particulars are like drops that have been “milked” from what encompasses them. For example, a melon seed is a drop milked from the totality of the melon or a point in which the whole book of the melon is inscribed, for the seed contains its index, list of contents, and program. Since this is so, the encompassing wholes and universals must be within the hand of the Maker of those particulars, drops, and points, so that He can milk or filter the individuals, drops, and points from them in accordance with the subtle principles of His Wisdom. This means that the One Who creates the seed and the individual must be the One Who creates the whole and the universals, as well as the other much greater universals and types that encompass the latter; it could not be otherwise. This being the case, the One Who creates a single soul is able to create all of humankind. And the One Who raises to life one dead person is able to raise to life all jinn and humans at the Resurrection, and will indeed raise them to life. So see how most definitely and brilliantly true is the verse: Your creation and your resurrection are but as (the creation and resurrection) of a single soul (31:28).

 

THE NINTH STEP: The copy of the “Qur’an of glory” which is inscribed in an atom with particles of ether is not less in eloquence or marvels of art than the copy of the “Qur’an of grandeur” written on the pages of the heavens in the ink of stars and suns. Similarly, in relation to the Power of the universe’s Creator, a rose is not less in eloquence and beauty of art than a pearl-like star; nor is an ant inferior to an elephant or a germ to a rhinoceros. Also, the absolutely perfect speed and ease in the creation of things cause the people of misguidance to confuse creative formation with self-formation, which entails endless impossibilities and is beyond all probability and assumption. While the utmost and perfect speed and ease in the creation of things lead the people of right guidance to the certainty that stars and minute atoms are the same in relation to the Power of the Creator of the universe, all-exalted is His Majesty! And there is no deity but He, and He is the All-Great.

(I wanted to explain this last step at length, but regrettably I have been prevented by my extreme distress, weakness, and the serious illnesses I have suffered as a result of being poisoned. I have therefore been compelled to be content with a brief indication.)

If a Qur’an of mighty stature was written on an atom with miniscule particles of ether, and if another mighty Qur’an was written in stars and suns on the pages of the heavens and the two were compared, the microscopic Qur’an written in particles would certainly not be inferior in respect of wonders and miraculous art than the vast Qur’an gilding the face of the heavens; indeed, in some respects it would be superior.

In the same way, in relation to the Power of the universe’s Creator, the rose is not inferior to the planet Venus, nor is the ant inferior to the elephant in respect of the originality and extraordinariness of their creation. Also, as regards their creation, a germ is more wonderful than a rhinoceros and the bee is superior to the date-palm. This means that the One Who creates the bee can create all animals. The One Who raises a single soul to life can raise to life all humans at the Resurrection and gather them together in the place of the Supreme Gathering, as surely He will. Nothing at all is difficult for Him, for before our eyes every spring He creates hundreds of thousands of samples of the Resurrection with the greatest ease and speed.

What is meant by the final sentence of the piece in question is that since the people of misguidance do not know the unshakeable truths of the above “steps,” and since creatures come into existence with the greatest ease and speed, they imagine their formation and creation by the infinite Power of the Maker to be self-formation, believing that they come into existence of themselves. In so doing, they open for themselves the door to superstitions, which are impossible in every respect and which no sound mind or imagination could accept. For example, their assertion requires that every single atom of every living creature should have infinite power and knowledge, an eye that sees everything, and the capability to execute every art and skill. By not accepting a single God, they are bound to accept deities to the number of particles in existence, and thus deserve to be cast into the lowest of the low reaches of Hell.

As for the people of guidance, the powerful truths and proofs in the “steps” above give to their sound hearts and straight minds a very firm conviction, a powerful belief, and a sound affirmation at the degree of certainty based on knowledge. Consequently, they believe without doubt and with the utmost contentment of the heart that in relation to the Divine Power there is no difference between the stars and the atoms or between the smallest and the largest; all these amazing things occur before our very eyes and every marvel of art confirms the declaration of the verse,

Your creation and your resurrection are but as (the creation and resurrection of) a single soul,

and testifies that it is pure truth and reality. And through the tongue of their beings they declare: “God is the All-Great!” We too declare: “God is the All-Great!” along with them. And with all our strength and conviction we affirm the verse’s claim, and we testify with innumerable proofs that it is pure truth and reality.

All-Glorified are You! We have no knowledge save what You have taught us; surely You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

O God! Bestow blessings and peace on the one whom You sent as a mercy to all the worlds, and all praise and gratitude are due to God, the Lord of the worlds.

 

Said Nursi