The First Word
The second station of the Fourteenth Gleam
About the six of the innumerable mysteries of: In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate.
NOTE: A bright light from the Basmala concerning Divine Mercy touched my dimmed mind from afar. I wanted to capture and record it as notes in 20 to 30 sections of “Mysteries.” Alas, I have not been able to do this yet, and my 20 to 30 have been brought down to 6. Even though addressed particularly to myself, I refer it for the approval of my exacting brothers with the hope that it may benefit those with whom I am associated spiritually and whose souls are wiser than mine. The argument addresses the heart rather than the mind, and regards the inner experience and pleasure rather than being rational proofs.
In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate. [The Queen] said: “Chieftains, here delivered to me is a letter worthy of respect. It is from Solomon, and is: In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate.” (27:29-30)
FIRST MYSTERY: Three stamps of Lordship are impressed upon the face of the universe, the earth, and humanity. They are one within the other, and each carries a pattern of the others:
DIVINITY: We see this in how all entities in the universe help and cooperate with each other, and in their general interconnectedness and reciprocity. The referent is “In the Name of God.”
DIVINE MERCIFULNESS: We see this in the resemblance, proportion, orderliness, harmony, grace and mercy in disposing, raising, and administering plants and animals. The referent is the All-Merciful, in “In the Name of God, the All-Merciful.”
DIVINE COMPASSION: We see this in the subtleties of kindness, fine points of affection, and rays of compassion on the face of the human comprehensive nature. The referent is the All-Compassionate, in “In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate.”
Thus, the basmala is the sacred title of Divine Absolute Oneness’ three stamps. They form a luminous line on the page of the universe, a robust stay, and a golden thread. Revealed from above us, its tip rests upon humanity, a miniature of the universe and its fruit. The basmala links the world to the Divine Throne, and is a stairway for us to rise to the throne of true humanity.
SECOND MYSTERY: Divine Unity is evident in the boundless multiplicity of individualized creatures. So as not to overwhelm our minds all at once, the Qur’an, being a miracle of exposition, constantly reiterates the manifestation of Divine Absolute Oneness3 within Unity—the manifestation of a Divine Name on all beings.
Consider this analogy: The sun encompasses innumerable things in its light. But to hold the totality of its light in our minds, we would need a vast conceptual and perceptual power. So lest the sun be forgotten, all shining objects reflect its properties (light and heat) as best they can and so manifest its being the sun, and those properties (heat, light, and the color spectrum) encompass the objects that the sun is facing.
Similarly—to God applies the most sublime attribute—just as God’s Oneness, His being Eternally Besought, and His Divine Names are manifested in everything, particularly in living things and especially in our mirror-like nature, each Divine Name related to creatures encompasses all creatures through Divine Unity. Thus the Qur’an constantly draws our attention to the stamp of Divine Oneness within Divine Unity, lest our minds be overwhelmed by Unity and our hearts become heedless of the Pure and Holy Essence. So, it is the basmala which indicates the three important aspects of the stamp of Divine Absolute Oneness or Uniqueness.
THIRD MYSTERY: Divine Mercy causes the universe to rejoice. It gives the spark of light and life to dark entities, and nurtures and raises up creatures struggling with their endless need. It causes the universe to be directed toward humanity, just as a tree is directed toward its fruit, and to hasten to our assistance. It fills and lights up boundless space, an otherwise void and empty world, making it rejoice. For transient humanity, Divine Mercy also appoints eternity and the rank of the creature addressed and beloved of the One, Eternal before and after eternity. Since Divine Mercy is so powerful a truth, so inviting, mild, helpful, and worthy of love, say: In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, and cling to this truth, and be saved from endless desolation and need. Draw near to the King of eternity, and become the one He addresses, befriends, and loves through the rays and intercession of that Mercy.
Why do all entities gather around humanity with purpose and foresight, and hasten to meet our needs with perfect orderliness and grace? Do they recognize us and so run to help us—as irrational as it is, in many respects, impossible for it requires that we, who have no power, should have the power of the mightiest, absolute sovereign? Or does this help reach us via the recognition of One Absolutely Powerful behind the veil of the visible universe? In other words, the One, All-Knowing and All-Compassionate, knows and has mercy on us, and puts all the entities of the universal out our service.
Consider this: How could the All-Majestic One, Who causes all entities to turn toward you with their hands outstretched to help you, not know and see you? He knows you and teaches you through His Mercy that He knows you. So know Him, and reverently show that you do. Understand with conviction that Divine Mercy, existing together with Wisdom, Knowledge, Grace, and Power, subjects the universe to your service, even though you are a slight, transient, wholly feeble, powerless, and needy creature. Most certainly, such Mercy requires total and sincere gratitude as well as honest and ardent reverence. So say: In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, which expresses and interprets such feelings. Make it the means of admission to His Mercy, and an intercessor at the Court of the All-Merciful.
The presence and actuality of Divine Mercy is as clear as the sun. Just as a center-patterned tapestry is woven by positioning and sequencing the warp and weft and then gathered to the center, so also the luminous threads extending from the manifestations of Divine Names throughout the universe weave a seal of such compassion, a tapestry of such kindness, a pattern of such grace within the stamp of Mercy, that it is impressed upon the mind more brilliantly than the sun.
The Gracious All-Merciful One, Who causes everything to serve life; Who demonstrates His Compassion in the self-sacrifice, the extraordinary sweetness of compassion, of motherhood in plants and animals; Who subjects animate life to humanity and thereby displays our importance and status as the finest and loveliest weave from the Divine Lordship as well as His Mercy’s brilliance—that One has, due to His absolute lack of need, made His Mercy an acceptable intercessor for His animate creatures and humanity. So, if you are truly human, say: In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, and find that intercessor.
Nothing but Divine Mercy brings to life, nurtures, and administers all plant and animal species. It neither overlooks nor confuses one with another, but raises each at the right time and with perfect order, wisdom, and grace. It impresses the seal of Divine Oneness upon the earth’s surface. Just as this Mercy’s existence is as certain as the existence of the earth’s creatures, each creature also is a proof of its actual manifestation or being a reality.
The seal of Mercy and Divine Oneness is impressed upon the earth and upon humanity’s nature. The mercy stamped upon us is not less than the compassion and mercy stamped upon the universe. Our nature is comprehensive, as we are the weave’s center and the Divine Names’ focal point.
How could the One Who gives you this face, Who impresses upon it the stamp of Mercy and the seal of Oneness, leave you to your own devices? How could He consider you of no account, have no regard for your actions, and so make all creation, which is directed toward you, futile and wasteful? How could He make the Tree of Creation worthless and rotten with decayed fruit? Would He cause His perfect, indisputable Mercy to be denied when it is as obvious as the sun, and His Wisdom, which is as clear as light?
You can ascend to the throne of that Mercy by In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate. Grasp its importance by looking at the beginning of each Qur’anic sura (chapter), all worthwhile books and good actions. A most decisive argument for this phrase’s worth is the comment of the foremost Islamic scholars like Imam ash-Shafi‘i4: “Although the basmala is a single verse, it was revealed 114 times in the Qur’an.”
FOURTH MYSTERY: In the face of Divine Unity manifested within the boundless multiplicity of individualized creatures, declaring, You alone do we worship (1:5) is not enough for everyone, for our minds wander from Reality. We would have to possess so comprehensive a heart as the earth to observe the One in His Oneness behind the unity within the totality of individualized entities, that we could say: You alone do We worship, and from You alone do We seek help (1:5). Thus, the seal of Divine Oneness must be apparent on each individualized entity and species, and a seal of Divine Oneness should exist within the stamp of Divine Mercifulness, so that everyone at every level can turn to the Pure and Holy One and, by saying: You alone do we worship, and from You alone do we seek help (1:5), address Him directly.
It is for this mighty truth that the wise Qur’an abruptly juxtaposes individualized detail with totality, small with large, particular with general. To prevent the mind from wandering and the heart from drowning, to allow the spirit to find its True Object of Worship directly, it mentions our creation and speaking, and the fine details of the favors and wisdom in our features, while mentioning the creation of the heavens and the earth. This truth is miraculously shown in And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the varieties in your languages and in your colors (30:22).
There are stamps of various kinds and degrees in the universe showing that it is God Almighty Who has created, sustains, and directs is. Although these stamps, existing in concentric circles of different size, display a unity behind multiplicity of innumerable creatures, it is still a unity within multiplicity and, therefore, cannot enable worshippers to address God directly. Thus the stamp of Divine Oneness must be on everything, that is, through the concentrated manifestation of God’s Names on it, each thing and species should display that it is God Who has created, sustains, and directs it, so that multiplicity may not detract minds from seeing the Pure and Holy One in everything in the universe, and a way be opened up to the hearts to enable them to turn to and address Him directly.
Also, a most entrancing design, radiant light, agreeable sweetness, pleasing beauty, and powerful truth have been placed upon the stamp of Divine Oneness to draw our attention and hearts to it. Mercy’s vigor and power draw sentient beings’ attention to It, and enable them to attain to the seal of Oneness, to concentrate on the One of the Absolute Oneness, and thereby to address Him directly, declaring: You alone do we worship, and from You alone do We seek help (1:5).
Thus In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, being the index of the Chapter of Opening (Suratu’l-Fatiha) and an epitome of the Qur’an, is the sign and interpreter of this mighty truth. Whoever equips him/herself with it can travel through the levels of Divine Mercy; whoever causes it to speak can learn the mysteries of Divine Mercy and see the lights of Divine Compassion and Pity.
FIFTH MYSTERY: There is a hadith (Prophetic Tradition)5 to the effect that God created humanity in the form of the All-Merciful One. Its extravagant interpretation by some Sufis does not accord with the fundamentals of belief.6 Some ecstatic Sufis assert that our spiritual nature is “in the form of the All-Merciful.” Immersed in their contemplative and spiritual trances, they might be excused for expressing mistaken views. If others consider such views acceptable, they are in error.
The Pure and Holy God, Who orders and administers the universe as easily as if it were a palace or a house, Who turns galaxies as if they were particles and sends them travelling through space with wisdom and grace, Who dispatches the minutest particles as if they were obedient officials, has no equal or match, no partner or opposite. According to: There is nothing like to Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing (42:11), He has no form, likeness, or peer. Nothing resembles or is similar to Him. On the other hand, according to: And to Him applies the most sublime attribute in the heavens and the earth, and He is Exalted in Might, the All-Wise (30:27), humanity can conceive of His acts, Attributes, and Names via allegory and comparison. Thus the Tradition’s intended meaning is: “Humanity’s form, in its totality, reflects the Divine Name the All-Merciful.”
This Divine Name is evident via the lights of all Names manifested in the universe, and on the earth through innumerable evidences of God’s absolute Lordship. In the same way, the All-Merciful is also manifested fully in our comprehensive form, which is a miniature form of the universe.
A further indication may be derived from the following analogy: Animate creation and humanity are loci of evidences of the Necessarily Existent One, proofs and mirrors to the All-Merciful, All-Compassionate. These proofs are so certain, clear, and evident that just as we might say that a mirror reflecting the sun “has the form of (or is like) the sun” (emphasizing the brilliant evidence of the sun’s light), we also might say: “Humanity has the All-Merciful One’s form,” stressing our being a clear evidence of, and perfect connection with, the All-Merciful. Therefore, the more moderate and balanced believers in the Unity of Being said: “There is no existent but He,” expressing the evidence’s clarity and the connection’s perfection.
O God, O All-Merciful, All-Compassionate. Through the truth of In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, have mercy on us as befits Your being the All-Compassionate. Open to our understanding the mysteries of this phrase, as befits Your being the All-Merciful. Amin.
SIXTH MYSTERY: O unhappy humanity laboring under limitless impotence and unending need! Understand Mercy’s value as a means and an intercessor. It is the means to a Majestic Sovereign in Whose army vast galaxies and minute particles serve together in perfect obedience and harmony. That Majestic Sovereign of Eternity is the Absolutely Wealthy and Self-Sufficient One, having no need and being in need of nothing and no one at all. Everything is under His authority and direction, obedient before His Glory and Grandeur, awed and prostrate before His Majesty. O human, Mercy uplifts you to the Presence of that Absolutely Wealth, Independent, and Eternal Sovereign Who befriends you and addresses you as His well-loved servant.
Yet just as its light gives you the sun’s reflection through your mirror although you cannot draw close to it, so also the Light of His Mercy makes the Pure and Holy One, the Sun of Eternity, close to us although we are infinitely far from Him. So, O human! Whoever finds this Mercy finds an eternal treasure of unfailing light. This Mercy can be reached through the Sunna of the most noble Prophet,7 its most brilliant exemplar and representative, its most eloquent voice and herald, who the Qur’an hails as “a mercy for all the worlds.” He can be reached by calling the blessings of God upon him, for the intent of this prayer is mercy. As a prayer of mercy for the living embodiment of Divine Mercy, it reaches the “mercy to all the worlds.” So use this prayer to reach him, and make him the means by which you can reach the Mercy of the All-Merciful. All Muslims repeatedly say this prayer for the “mercy to all the worlds,” which is synonymous with mercy. Doing so is a dazzling demonstration of how precious a gift Mercy is, and how broad is its sphere.
In conclusion, Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, is both the most precious jewel in Mercy’s treasury and Its door-keeper. The first and foremost key to It is In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the Al-Compassionate, and the easiest key to use is praying for or calling God’s blessings and peace on the Prophet.
O God! For the sake of the mysteries of In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, bestow blessings and peace on the one You sent as a mercy to all the worlds as befits Your Mercy and the honor due to him, and on his Family and Companions. Grant us mercy so that we are free of need for the mercy of any, among your creatures, other than You. Amin.
All-Glorified You are! We have no knowledge save what You have taught us. Surely You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi
3Divine Oneness: God’s Oneness manifested by the concentration of His Names on one entity (Tr.)
4Imam ash-Shafi‘i (d. 820): Muslim legal scholar, founder of the Shafi‘i legal school. He developed a new synthesis of Islamic legal thought. Most of the ideas were already familiar, but he structured them in a new way. He mainly dealt with what the sources of Islamic law were and how they could be applied by the law to contemporary events. His ar-Risala entitles him to be called the “father of Muslim jurisprudence.” (Ed.)
5 Hadith, as a term, stands for “what was transmitted on the Prophet’s authority, his deeds, sayings, and tacit approvals.” (Tr.)
6 Sufism is a spiritual Islamic belief and practice in which Muslims seek to find Divine love and knowledge through the ways particular to it. Its adherents are known, in the West, as Sufis. (Ed.)
7The Sunna is the record of the Messenger’s every act, word, and confirmation as the second source of Islamic legislation and life (the Qur’an is the first one). In addition to establishing new principles and rules, the Sunna expounds the erudition in the Qur’an by expanding upon what is mentioned only briefly in it, specifies what is unconditional, and enables generalizations from what is specifically stated and particularizations from what is generally stated. (Ed.)