The Tenth Word

Part five

A hadith says that one hundred and twenty-four thousand Prophets,49 who are the most eminent and distinguished among humanity, have been sent. All of these Prophets, based on Divine Revelation and their own spiritual observation, unanimously and in complete agreement gave news that the Hereafter does exist, that human beings will be sent there, and that the Creator will bring it as He promised. In addition, one hundred and twenty-four million saints, with spiritual illumination, discovery, and observation have confirmed the reports of the Prophets with the degree of certainty arising from knowledge, and testified to the existence of the Hereafter. Also, all the Names of the All-Wise Maker, through their manifestations in this world, show the absolutely necessary existence of and necessitate an everlasting realm. For example, the Eternal Power, Which every spring restores to life innumerable corpses of dead trees on the face of the earth with the command of “Be! and it is,” and Which revives hundreds of thousands of species of plants and animals as samples of the resurrection of the dead, most clearly necessitates the existence of the Hereafter. Likewise, the infinite, Eternal Wisdom, Which allows nothing to be in vain or purposeless, and the Eternal Mercy and Perpetual Favor, Which, with perfect compassion and in an extremely wonderful fashion, provide the sustenance of all living beings that are in need of it, and for a brief time in spring allow them to display their manifold varieties of adornment and decoration, require the Hereafter. Furthermore, the human being is the most perfect fruit of the universe and its Creator’s most beloved creature, and of all beings the human is the most closely and deeply connected and concerned with the other beings in the universe. The intense, unshakeable, and constant love of eternity and ambition for permanence that are innate in human nature prove the existence of a permanent realm, an everlasting abode of happiness that will follow this transient world, so decisively that they necessitate the acceptance of the Hereafter with the same certainty that we accept the existence of this world.50

Since one of the most important things the wise Qur’an teaches us is belief in the Hereafter, and since this belief is so powerful and it provides such hope and solace that if a single person were overwhelmed by old age a hundred thousand times over, the consolation arising from this belief would be sufficient to face it, then surely we who are elderly should say, “All praise be to God for perfect belief,” and love our old age.

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi

49 Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, 5:265; Ibn Hibban, as-Sahih, 2:77. (Tr.)

50 It may be realized from the following comparison how easy it is to report an already existing thing or clear fact and how hard it is to deny it. If someone says: “Somewhere on this earth is a wonderful garden that provides “canned” milk” in the form of fruit, and others dispute this, the first person only has to show the garden or some of its produce. Deniers, however, must inspect and display the whole world to justify their negation. Similarly, the testimony of two truthful witnesses (such as Prophets or saints) establishes Paradise’s existence, even if we ignore the many signs and indications demonstrated by others who assert its existence. Deniers must examine, explore, and sift the infinite cosmos and travel throughout infinite and eternal time before they can prove Paradise’s non-existence. Therefore, my elderly brothers and sisters, understand how secure and sound it is to believe in the Hereafter.