THE NINETEENTH STEP: The Divine Being Himself

 

 

The inquisitive and yearning traveler, who has by this stage reached the throne of truth by having advanced through the above-mentioned eighteen ranks, and who has risen from the rank of knowing the Creator of the world indirectly to the station of addressing Him directly, addresses their own spirit as follows: “At the beginning of the Fatiha (the Opening Chapter of the Qur’an) we praise God indirectly, (saying: “All praise and gratitude are for God.”). However, when we reach the word iyyaka (“You alone”), we enter His Presence and address Him directly. Taking our cue from this, we should abandon this indirect search and address the One Whom we are seeking, questioning Him directly about Himself. After all, if one wishes to know about the sun, which shows all things, one should ask the sun itself.”

That which shows all things shows itself even more clearly. Just as we perceive the sun through its rays, we can also try to know our Creator through His All-Beautiful Names and Sacred Attributes, in accordance with the extent of our capacities. We will set forth here, with brevity and concision, two of the countless paths which lead to this goal; we will explain two of the innumerable stages of these two paths and two of the numerous realities of these two stages.

THE FIRST REALITY: We are able to observe quite clearly the comprehensive, constant, orderly, and awesome reality of an all-prevailing activity which directs, changes, and renews all things and beings in the heavens and on the earth. Within the reality of that comprehensively wise activity one is able to perceive immediately the truth of the manifestation of Lordship. In turn, within the truth of that comprehensively merciful manifestation of Lordship, one is able to recognize the truth of the demonstration of Divinity.

From behind the veil of this constant, imperious, and wise activity, the Acts of an All-Powerful and All-Knowing Doer can be discerned so clearly that it is as though one is witnessing them directly. And from behind the veil of these nurturing, directing and administering acts of Lordship, the Divine Names Which are manifested in all things can be perceived most clearly. Then from behind the veil of the All-Beautiful Names, Which manifest themselves with majesty and grace, the existence and operation of the seven sacred Attributes can be deduced at the degree of certainty of knowledge, or rather, the degree of certainty of vision or observation, or even certainty of experience. And as is evidenced by the whole of creation, through the endless manifestations of these seven Attributes, that is, Life, Knowledge, Power, Will, Hearing, Seeing, and Speech, the Existence of the Necessarily Existent One described by these Attributes, that Single One of Unity known by these Names, that All-Independent, Eternally Besought One, becomes known self evidently, necessarily, with the eye of faith in the heart, as though He were being seen more clearly and brilliantly than the sun.

For a beautiful and meaningful book and a well-built house presuppose the acts of writing and building respectively; the acts of writing beautifully and building well self-evidently presuppose the titles of writer and builder; the titles of writer and builder obviously imply the arts and attributes of writing and building; and these arts and attributes necessitate clearly one who is qualified by these names and attributes, and who is an artist, a craftsman and an agent. For, just as it is impossible for there to be a deed without a doer, or a name without one designated by the name, it is also impossible for there to be an attribute without one qualified by the attribute, or for there to be a craft without a craftsman.

On the basis, then, of this reality and principle, the universe and all that it contains resembles a collection of countless meaningful books and letters written by the Pen of Divine Destiny and countless buildings and palaces constructed with the tools of Divine Power. All of these, individually in thousands of ways and together in innumerable ways, provide infinite testimonies to the limitless deeds of Lordship and Mercifulness. Together with these deeds, one thousand and one All-Beautiful Names, Which are the origins of these deeds, and the seven Attributes of Majesty, Which are the source of the Names, testify, through their endless manifestations, and in endless and infinite ways, to the necessary Existence and Unity of an All-Majestic Being Who is the source of these seven sacred, all-embracing Attributes and is qualified by them. And so too, all the instances of beauty, grace, value, and perfection that are found in those beings testify as one to the sacred beauties and perfections of the acts of Lordship; they testify to the Divine Names and Attributes of the Eternally Besought and the Essential Characteristics of the All-Glorified, which are fitting and worthy of them. And together with all these Names, Attributes, and Characteristics, they bear witness to the sacred Beauty and Perfection of the All-Pure and Sacred Divine Essence.

Thus, the truth of Lordship that manifests itself within the reality of all activity reveals itself in qualities and acts such as creating, inventing, making, and originating with knowledge and wisdom; it shows itself in determining, fashioning, directing, and administering with order and balance; it manifests itself in transforming, changing, causing to descend, and perfecting with purpose and will; it makes itself known through feeding, nurturing, and the bestowal of bounties and gifts with tenderness and mercy. And the reality of the self-demonstration of Divinity found and perceived within the reality of the manifestation of Lordship makes itself known and recognized through the compassionate and munificent manifestations of the All-Beautiful Names and through the Majestic and Graceful manifestations of the seven established, positive or affirmative Attributes: Life, Knowledge, Power, Will, Hearing, Seeing or Sight, and Speech.

Just as the Attribute of Speech makes the All-Sacred Divine Essence known through Revelation and inspiration, the Attribute of Power makes Him known through Its skilled works and effects, which are Its embodied words. Presenting the entire universe in the form of a book of embodied criteria that distinguish truth from falsehood, the Power describes and makes known an All-Powerful One of Majesty.

As for the Attribute of Knowledge, through all of the innumerable wise, well-ordered, and balanced artifacts, and through all of the countless beings that are administered, directed, adorned, and made distinct through knowledge, It makes known a single, All-Knowing and All-Sacred Divine Essence.

As for the Attribute of Life, It is established both by Its own proofs and by all the works that proclaim God’s Power; It is made known by all the well-ordered, wise, balanced and adorned forms and states that indicate God’s Knowledge, as well as by all proofs provided by the other Attributes. Thus Life, which together with all Its proofs shows as witnesses all living beings, which act as Its mirrors, makes known an All-Living and Self-Subsistent Being. Life also makes the universe into a supreme mirror which is composed of countless smaller ones—a mirror that is continuously changed and renewed in order to display an ever-changing array of fresh and varied manifestations and designs. Similarly, each of the Attributes of Sight and Hearing and Will and Speech reveals and makes known the All-Sacred Divine Essence in the same way that the universe does.

Moreover, just as the Attributes demonstrate the Existence of the All-Majestic Divine Essence, they also indicate in evident fashion the existence and reality of Life and the fact that the Divine Essence is eternally living. For knowing is a sign of life; hearing is an indication of being alive; seeing belongs only to the living; and willing is possible only through life. Purposeful power is found only in living beings, while speech is a faculty of those who are endowed with life and knowledge. It follows from all these realities that the Divine Attribute of Life has proofs seven times as great as the universe, and proofs that proclaim both Its own existence and the existence of the One Whom It qualifies. It is because of this that Life is the foundation and source of all other Attributes: it is the origin and axis of God’s Greatest Name. Since the Risale-i Nur has established this primary truth with powerful proofs and, to a certain extent, clarified it, we will content ourselves now with a drop from this ocean.

THE SECOND REALITY: This is the Divine discourse which stems from the Divine Attribute of Speech.

As stated in the verse: If all the sea were ink to write my Lord’s words, the sea would indeed be exhausted before my Lord’s words would be exhausted, even if We were to bring the like of it in addition to it (18:109), Divine Speech is infinite. The most manifest sign demonstrating the existence of a being is its speech. Thus, this reality constitutes an infinite testimony to the Existence and Unity of the Eternal Speaker. As has been expounded in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Steps of this treatise, Revelation and inspiration are two powerful proofs of this reality; the divinely-revealed Books are, as mentioned in The Tenth Step, an expansive proof, and as indicated in The Seventeenth Step, the Qur’an of miraculous exposition is a most brilliant and comprehensive proof. So, referring the explanation of this reality to those Steps, and being content with the lights and mysteries of the mighty verse: God (Himself) testifies that there surely is no deity but He, and so do the angels and those endowed with knowledge, being firm in upholding truth and uprightness: (these all testify that) There is no deity but He, the All-Glorious with irresistible might, the All-Wise (3:18), which proclaims this reality in a miraculous fashion and adds its own testimony to all of the preceding ones, our traveler goes no further.

In reference to the brief meaning of the lesson that the traveler has learned at this sacred station, it was said in The Nineteenth Step of The First Station:

There is no deity but God, the Necessarily Existent One, the Single, the Unique, Who possesses the All-Beautiful Names and the all-exalted Attributes, and to Whom applies the most sublime description. His necessary Existence in His Unity is demonstrated clearly by all His sacred and all-encompassing Attributes and all of His All-Beautiful Names, Which manifest themselves constantly, and the manifestations of Which are demonstrated by the concurrence of His Essential Characteristics and operative Acts. This is testified to by the sublime reality of the self-revelation of Divinity in the manifestation of Lordship, Which reveals Itself in constant, all-permeating activity through the acts of inventing, creating, making, and originating through Will and Power, through the acts of determining, fashioning, administering and directing through Choice and Wisdom, and through the acts of expending, ordering, preserving, managing and providing through Determining and Mercy—all with complete order, harmony, and balance. It is also testified to by the sublime and all-inclusive truth of the mysteries of the verse: God (Himself) testifies that there surely is no deity but He, and so do the angels and those who possess knowledge, being firm in upholding truth and uprightness: (these all testify that) There is no deity but He, the All-Glorious with irresistible might, the All-Wise (3:18).

 

Said Nursi