Eighth Matter
AN INDICATION
One of the factors, rather, the primary factor, which puts literalists in danger is that they take a possibility for a fact. For example, they say, “The Divine Power can do that. Moreover, it is more befitting, according to reason, for His Grandeur to do so. So, this must be so.” This is sheer stupidity. O poor ones! Has your reason developed to the point where it can measure and engineer the universe? How can you, with your restricted reason, comprehend the universal system with all its parts and features and perceive its overall beauty? These are the kind of people who, if there were a golden nose half a meter long, would see it as more beautiful and fitting for people because, devoid of the holistic approach, they restrict their views to the object alone.
Another disastrous thing which causes their bewilderment is their false supposition that something that they suppose to occur is opposed to the certainty of knowledge. Because of this, they feel doubts about matters that are observably clear; they resemble sophists and (scientific) agnostics. According to their way of thought, we should doubt the existence of, for example, Lake Van or Mount Süphan, because according to them, their actual existence does not negate their supposed non-existence. They also see it as possible for Lake Van to change into a lake of molasses and for Mount Süphan to become a heap of honey covered with sugar. Again, since according to those friends and people like them, that sea and mountain do not consent to the earth being spherical and have set out on a journey, it is possible for them to stumble and fall into an ocean. For this reason, we cannot confirm that they remain in their places. O poor fellows! There can be no room for doubt about the things we perceive with our five external senses. If you deny an observed fact, I will, instead of giving you advice, offer my condolences for your “death.” For the clearest knowledge everybody possesses has died and sophistry has been revived in you.
The third disaster, which bewilders literalists, is that they confuse something that is possible in their imagination with its being rationally possible. But something that is possible in the imagination is not founded upon anything substantial, and causes doubts about even the most plain truths, leading to questions and sayings such as, “Why should it not be so?”, “It may well become so!” This arises from a lack of reasoning, a weakness in the heart, a sickness in the mind, and the supposition that there is no evidence for any truth. Contrary to this, rational possibilities or something being rationally or reasonably possible means feeling doubt about a matter for both the existence and non-existence of which there is no substantial evidence. Whimsical or fanciful possibilities cause one to say, “It is possible that this thing is not as it is shown to be by that fact. For reason is unable to comprehend everything. Furthermore, our reason considers that it may be so.”
No! It is not your reason, but your whims and imagination that lead to you to think something may be as you claim. Reason follows evidence. It is true that reason cannot weigh everything, but it can easily weigh material existence, including in particular the things that cannot escape the eyes, no matter how small they are. We are not responsible for those things that reason cannot evaluate.
A REMINDER
Those whom I mention or criticize as literalists or the ones who restrict themselves to the external are people who are either the enemies of Islam looking at it from afar with a superficial view, unable to perceive its beauty, or its ignorant friends who do it harm while trying to help.
The fourth disaster is precipitated out by those who go to extremes when searching for truth in all aspects of a metaphor. This is another factor which casts them into darkness. It is true that there is and must be a grain of truth in every metaphor; it is this truth in which the metaphor originates and flourishes. In other words, a truth is a wick that is burned to produce light, while a metaphor is the oil lamp that feeds it. Love is in the heart, and reason is in the mind. They cannot be looked for in the hands or feet.
Another disaster which blinds the eye and veils eloquence is restriction to external meanings. Those who restrict themselves to the external meaning never turn to metaphors to search for the truth; even if they were to turn, they would look only at the expression that contains a metaphor. For this reason, interpreting some Qur’anic verses and Prophetic Traditions based on solely the external aspects of their wording cannot bring out their beauty or eloquence. Such people think that a metaphor is used where a truth would not be rationally acceptable. Yet, that which prevents a truth from being understood plainly and leads to the use of a metaphor is not only connected with the reason. Anything pertaining to human senses or other ordinary or particular means of comprehension, such as those related to addresses or arising from a speech or an article, can cause a metaphor to be used. If you would like to, enter the paradisical Dala’il al-‘Ijaz (“Intimations of Inimitability”), chapter 221. You will see how that great genius ‘Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani44 severely reproaches such careless people.
The sixth disaster that makes what is known unknown is when some people regard something that is accidental or which is mentioned to give extra meaning to a word as being essential. Thus, they cannot see what this addition means and remove the sun of the truth from its axis. I wonder whether such people ever consider the literary style of the Arabs. For example, they say, “Mountains came across us, and then left us. They appeared before us, and then went away from us. And the sea swallowed the sun. And so on.” As stated in al-Miftah by al-Sakkaki,45 Arabs sometimes use the power of imagination, supposing that the elements of reality change places, and thus adding a subtle beauty or mystery to their words. What follows are two significant examples from the Qur’an:
He sends down hail out of snow-laden mountains [of clouds] from the sky (24:43).
And the sun runs the course appointed for it for a term to its resting place for the stability of it[s system] (36:38).
These two verses are worthy of attention. For freezing in the literal sense means denying eloquence its right. The metaphor in the first of the two verses is so beautiful and warm that it melts away whatever has been frozen like ice and tears up the veil of literalness. The eloquence of the other verse is so bright and fitting that it brings the sun to a stop.
The former verse contains a metaphor similar to that of glasses, crystal clear, made of silver (76:15–16). The vessels of Paradise are made of neither glass nor silver. The difference between glass and silver indicates a metaphor. Glass signifies transparency, and silver, whiteness and brightness. Therefore, in order to express the transparency and brightness of the vessels of Paradise, the Qur’an uses these terms that are familiar to all people. This usage is one of the elements that encourage people to strive for Paradise. Likewise, the phrase hail out of snow-laden mountains contains a similar metaphor. This metaphor is based on an agreeable, delighting competition that the power of imagination conceives between the sky and the earth.
Just as the earth is shrouded with snow or embellishes itself with its mountains and multi-colored gardens, grasslands, or orchards, so too the sky, as if in competition, dresses in accumulations of clouds resembling mountains in standing separately or jointly and earthly gardens and orchards in color. If we describe these separate masses of clouds as the mountains or ships or camels or gardens of the sky, we are not making a bad comparison. Thunder is the captain or shepherd of those travelers (clouds) in the atmosphere. It uses lightning as its wheel or staff to drive them. The clouds which are readily driven by thunder are like mountains of carded wool on the Resurrection Day. It is as if the sky calls upon the particles of vapor to take up arms with the thunder, and scatters them with the command “At ease!” The clouds often take the shapes of mountains and appear to be like them; in the same way they also become white and cold like snow or hail, appearing as mountains shrouded in snow. What we can understand from this is that clouds and mountains are friends that have a need to be close to one another. The Qur’an, pointing to this fact, shows them sometimes in the form of the other. In addition, as they shake hands and embrace each other on the earthly page of the book of the universe, they also shake hands in several stations of the Revealed Book—the Qur’an. We frequently witness that, just as mountains are wharfs for the clouds in the ocean of the sky, the clouds anchor around the top of mountains.
As for the verse, And the sun runs the course appointed for it for a term to its resting place for the stability of it[s system] (36:38), the word runs both indicates a style and expresses a reality. The style indicated is as follows:
As if it is a glorious armored vessel constructed from gold instead of iron, the sun floats in the ocean of the sky; this ocean is formed of ether and is described as a tightened or straightened wave. Even though the sun seems to have been anchored in its orbit, this “molten gold” floats in the ocean. However, this floating is not actual; we see it floating and this indicates a reality. Nevertheless, the sun moves in two ways, but the verse under discussion does not indicate them. The reason why the verse mentions the sun as running (floating) is to emphasize the magnificent order and the fact that there is an unchanging or stable system. It does not matter whether its running has a primary or secondary place in the verse; what is being stressed here is the orderliness, the system.
Secondly, the sun moves in its ecliptic, and because of this movement, its parts of “gold”—the planets—also move. This actual movement is the mechanism of its other figurative movement under discussion.
Thirdly, wisdom requires that the sun should travel in the broad space of the world on its throne called its ecliptic, escorted by its traveling soldiers called planets. For the Divine Power has made everything movable and condemned nothing to immobility or inertia. Thus, the Divine Mercy did not bind the sun up in inertia, which is the brother of death and the cousin of non-existence. Therefore, the sun is free, and can freely travel in obedience to the Divine law, on condition that it does not violate the freedom of others.
Turning to the term runs in the verse discussed, it indicates the apparent but figurative movement of the sun; what gives this phrase life (that is, what helps us to understand what it truly denotes) is the phrase li-mustaqarrin, which means “for the stability of it[s system].”
In short, the Divine purpose behind this expression is to show the orderliness and a stable system. The orderliness is as bright as the sun itself. Therefore, it does not matter whether this system arises from the movement of the sun or the revolution of the earth. So we have no right to question this verse as to whether the real cause of the orderliness is the movement of the sun or the earth. For example, the letter “ﺍ (alif)” in the verb ﻝﺎﻗ provides an easy pronunciation to the word. It does not matter whether the origin of this ﺍ is ﻭ or another letter. In any case, it is ﺍ and adds easiness to the pronunciation.
AN INDICATION
Becoming imprisoned by wording in its literal meaning is not only contrary to the warmth and beauty of eloquence, it also impedes human reason from seeing and confirming the Divine wisdom that is responsible for the excellence of the universal order, while it is human reason itself which bears witness to that wisdom. Let us give an example:
If you desire that a mountain faces you from four sides from afar, what you must do is to make four movements around yourself. But if you think or wish that this huge mountain should cover the distance and approach and then turn around you, this is certainly ridiculous and a crime committed against the order in the universe. This is what it means to be imprisoned by wording in its literal meaning without seeing or even accepting that the Qur’an uses metaphors or figures of speech. There is no waste or futility in creation, and the Qur’an reflects this, choosing the most direct way in its expressions. So, in order to adopt the most direct and understandable way, why should the Qur’an not use metaphors in a verse that expresses a reality, providing evidence of the Divine purpose for God’s creation of the universe.
A REMINDER
If you like, go back to the First and Second Premises. You will see that what confuses the minds of the literalists is their attachment to Greek philosophy. They take that philosophy for their basis to understand the Qur’an. An example that could make an old woman who has lost her son laugh at their attitude is this: Despite his knowledge and care to discriminate between the genuine and the false, someone from our region said, “There are four basic elements in the universe, and angels are luminous beings created from them.” He says this in order to refute the opinion of Muslim philosophers that angels are absolutely free of matter, and he is claiming that angels are bodies of (a kind of) light created from the four elements. That person and those like him think that Islam requires them to believe that existence is established upon four elements, namely air, water, fire, and earth. However, this is only an idea of ancient philosophy, not Islam. In addition, it is not necessary that everything which has some sort of relation with the Religion should necessarily be a part of it. To accept anything that is compatible with Islam as necessarily belonging to it is ignorance of the essence and essential nature of Islam. For the four basic essential sources of Islam, namely the Qur’an, the Sunna, the Consensus (of the scholars), and Analogy, neither generate such things nor form them.
In short, the acceptance of four basic universal elements of existence is a product of ancient philosophy, not of the Shari‘a. Unfortunately, since the faults of that philosophy found their way into the terminology of the renowned scholars of the past, the literalists have made use of them as a reference. However, we have no evidence that those scholars who referred to the four most widespread elements believed that all existence was made up of them only. There are four other basic elements, which modern science mentions in relation to the formation of living organisms: hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon.
If you are a free thinker, see how ancient philosophy and science have imprisoned minds within the walls of some errors and thrown them into abjection. However, the new scientific approach has brought down the walls of that prison.
It is clear that the key to the treasure of the aspects of miraculousness in the Qur’anic verses is the eloquent language of the Qur’an. It is not to be searched for in Greek philosophy.
O brothers and sisters! Now that our curiosity to uncover secrets has taken us thus far, let us travel to the Second Part of this book, which contains the key to eloquence and miraculousness, even though I know you are tired. Do not allow the ambiguities in its style or the poverty of its garb frighten you. Their essential beauty and value and the subtlety of their meaning should be enough to justify your studying them.
Said Nursi
44 Abu Bakr ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jurjani (400–471) was a famous Muslim scholar, literary theorist and grammarian. He lived in Iran. He excelled in the two sciences of ‘ilm al-balagha (eloquence and rhetoric) and ‘ilm al-bayan (rhetoric dealing with metaphorical language). Asrar al-Balagha (“Secrets of Eloquence”) and Dala’il al-‘Ijaz (“Intimations of Inimitability”) were his most famous works. (Trans.)
45 Abu Ya‘qub Yusuf ibn Abu Bakr al-Sakkaki (?–1229) was one of the leading scholars of the Arabic language and rhetoric. Miftah al-‘Ulum (“Key to Sciences”) and al-Miftah fi’n Nahw wa’t-Tasrif wa’l-Bayan (“A Key to Grammar, Inflection, and Syntax and Style”) are among his most well-known works. (Trans.)