Then that traveller through the world addressed his own intellect saying:“Since I am seeking my Master and Creator by means of the creatures of the cosmos, I ought before all else to visit the most celebrated of all thesecreatures, the greatest and most accomplished commander among them,according to the testimony even of his enemies, the most renownedruler, the most exalted in speech and the most brilliant an intellect, whohas illuminated fourteen centuries with his excellence and with hisQur’an, Muhammad the Arabian Prophet (May God’s peace and bless-ings be upon him).” In order thus to visit him and seek from him the an-swer to his quest, he entered the blessed age of the Prophet in his mind,and saw that age to be one of true felicity, thanks to that being. Forthrough the light he had brought, he had turned the most primitive andilliterate of peoples into the masters and teachers of the world.He said too to his own intellect, “Before asking him concerning ourCreator, we should first learn the value of this extraordinary being, theveracity of his words and the truthfulness of his warnings.” Thus he began investigating, and of the numerous conclusive proofs that hefound we will briefly indicate here only nine of the most general ones.
THE FIRST
All excellent qualities and characteristics were to be found
in that ex-traordinary being, according to the testimony even of his enemies.
Hun-dreds of miracles were made manifest at his hands, according to
explicitQur’anic verses or traditions enjoying
the status of
tawatur
.
292
Examplesof these miracles are his splitting of the moon —
And the moon split
293
—with a single indication of his finger; his casting of a
handful of dust into
292.Tawatur is the kind of report that is transmitted by
numerous authorities, aboutwhich there is consensus, and no room for doubt.
(Tr.)293.Qur’an, 54:1.
140
the eyes of his enemies, causing them to flee —
It was not your act when you threw, but God’s
294
— and his giving his thirsting army to drink fromthe water
that flowed forth from his five fingers like the Spring of Kawthar. Since
some of those miracles, numbering more than three hun-dred, have been set forth
with decisive proofs in the remarkable andwondrous work known as The Miracles
of Muhammad (the NineteenthLetter), we leave discussion of the miracles to that
book, and permit thetraveller to continue speaking:“A being who in addition to
noble characteristics and perfections hasall these luminous miracles to
demonstrate, must certainly be the mosttruthful in speech of all men. It is
inconceivable that he would stoop totrickery, lies and error, the deeds of
the vile.”
THE SECOND
He holds in his hand a decree from the Lord of the universe,
a decreeaccepted and affirmed in each century by more than three hundred
mil-lion people. This decree, the Qur’an of Mighty Stature, is wondrous inseven
different ways. The fact that the Qur’an has forty different aspectsof
miraculousnes and that it is the word of the Creator of all beings
has been set forth in detail with strong proofs in the Twenty-Fifth
Word, TheMiraculousness of the Qur’an, a celebrated treatise that is like the sun
of the Risale-i Nur. We therefore leave such matters to that work and
listento the traveller as he says, “There can never be any possibility of lying
onthe part of the being who is the conveyor and proclaimer of this decree,for
that would be a violation of the decree and treachery toward the OneWho issued
it.”
THE THIRD
Such a Sacred Law, an Islam, a code of worship, a cause, a
summons,and a faith did that being bring forth that the like of them does not
exist,nor could it exist. Nor does a more perfect form of them exist, nor
couldit exist. For the Law appearing with that unlettered being has no rival
inits administration of one fifth of humanity for fourteen centuries, in
a justand precise manner through its numerous injunctions. Moreover
theIslam that emerged from the deeds, sayings, and inward states of thatunlettered
being has no peer, nor can it have, for in each century it
has been for three hundred million men a guide and a refuge, the teacherand
educator of their intellects and the illuminator and purifier of their
294.Qur’an, 8:17.
141
hearts, the cause for the refinement and training of their
souls, and thesource of progress and advancement of their spirits.The Prophet
is similarly unparalleled in the way in which he was theforemost in practising
all the forms of worship found in his religion, andthe first in piety
and the fear of God; in his observing the duties of
wor-ship fully and with attention to their profoundest dimensions, evenwhile
engaged in constant struggle and activity; in his practice of wor-ship
combining in perfect fashion the beginning and end of worship andservitude to
God without imitation of anyone.With the
Jawshan al-Kabir
, from among his thousands of supplicatoryprayers and
invocations, he describes his Sustainer with such a degree of gnosis that
all the gnostics and saints who have come after him
have been unable, with their joint efforts, to attain a similar degree of gnosisand
accurate description. This shows that in prayer too he is withoutpeer. Whoever
looks at the section at the beginning of the Treatise onSupplicatory Prayer,
which sets forth some part of the meaning of one of the ninety-nine
sections of the
Jawshan al-Kabir
, will say that the
Jawshan
too has no peer.In his conveying of the message and his
summoning men to the truth,he displayed such steadfastness, firmness and
courage that althoughgreat states and religions, and even his own people, tribe
and uncle op-posed him in the most hostile fashion, he exhibited not the
slightest traceof hesitation, anxiety or fear. The fact that he successfully
challenged thewhole world and made Islam the master of the world likewise
provesthat there is not and cannot be anyone like him in his conveying of themessage
and summons.In his faith, he had so extraordinary a strength, so marvellous a
cer-tainty, so miraculous a breadth, and so exalted a conviction, illuminingthe
whole world, that none of the ideas and beliefs then dominating
theworld, and none of the philosophies of the sages and teachings of the
re-ligious leaders, was able, despite extreme hostility and denial, to inducein
his certainty, conviction, trust and assurance, the slightest doubt,
hes-itation, weakness or anxiety. Moreover, the saintly of all ages, headed
bythe Companions, the foremost in the degrees of belief, have all drawn onhis
fountain of belief and regarded him as representing the highest de-gree of
faith. This proves that his faith too is matchless. Our travellertherefore
concluded, and affirmed with his intellect, that lying and du-plicity have no
place in the one who has brought such a unique sacredlaw, such
an unparalleled Islam, such a wondrous devotion
to worship,
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such an extraordinary excellence in supplicatory prayer, such
a univer-sally acclaimed summons to the truth and such a miraculous faith.
THE FOURTH
In the same way that the consensus of the prophets is a
strong proof for the existence and Unity of God, so too it is a firm
testimony to thetruthfulness and messengerhood of this being. For all the
sacred attrib-utes, miracles and functions that indicate the truthfulness and
messen-gerhood of the prophets (Upon whom be peace) existed in full measurein
that being according to the testimony of history. The prophets haveverbally
predicted the coming of that being and given good tidingsthereof in the Torah,
the Gospels, the Psalms, and other scriptures;
morethan twenty of the most conclusive examples of these glad tidings,drawn
from the scriptures, have been set forth and proven in the Nine-teenth Letter.
Similarly, through all the deeds and miracles associatedwith their prophethood
they have affirmed and —as it were— put theirsignature to the mission of that
being which is the foremost and mostperfect in the tasks and functions of
prophethood. Just as through verbalconsensus they indicate the Divine Unity,
through the unanimity of theirdeeds they bear witness to the truthfulness of
that being. This too wasunderstood by our traveller.
THE FIFTH
Similarly, the thousands of saints who have attained
truth, reality, per-fection, wondrous deeds, unveiling and witnessing through
the instruc-tion of this being and following him, bear unanimous witness not
only tothe Divine Unity but also to the truthfulness and messengerhood of
this being. Again, the fact that they witness, through the light of sainthood,some
of the truths he proclaimed concerning the World of the Unseen,and that they believe
in and affirm all of those truths through the light of belief, either with ‘knowledge of certainty,’ or with the ‘vision of cer-tainty,’
or with ‘absolute certainty.’ He saw that this too demonstates likethe sun the
degree of truthfulness and rectitude of that great being, theirmaster.
THE SIXTH
The millions of purified, sincere, and punctilious scholars
and faithfulsages, who have reached the highest station of learning through
theteaching and instruction contained in the sacred truths brought by
that being, despite his unlettered nature, the exalted sciences he
invented andDivine knowledge he discovered—they not only prove and affirm,
unan-imously and with the strongest proofs, the Divine Unity which is the
143
foundation of his mission, but also bear unanimous witness to
the truth-fulness of this supreme teacher and great master, and to the veracity
of his words. This is a proof as clear as daylight. The Risale-i Nur too
withits one hundred parts is but a single proof of his truthfulness.
THE SEVENTH
The Family and Companions of the Prophet —who with their
insight,knowledge, and spiritual accomplishment are the most renowned,
themost respected, the most celebrated, the most pious and the mostkeensighted
of men after the prophets— examined and scrutinized, withthe utmost attention,
seriousness and exactitude, all the states, thoughtsand conditions of this
being, whether hidden or open. They came to theunanimous conclusion that he was
the most truthful, exalted, and
honest being in the world, and this, their unshakeable affirmation
and firm be-lief, is a proof like the daylight attesting the reality
of the sun.
THE EIGHTH
The cosmos indicates its Maker, Inscriber, and Designer, Who
creates,administers, and arranges it, and through determining its measure
andform and regulating it, has disposal over it as though it was a palace,
a book, an exhibition, a spectacle. And so too it indicates that it requiresand
necessitates an elevated herald, a truthful unveiler, a learned master,and
a truthful teacher who will know and make known the Divine pur-poses in the
universe’s creation, teach the dominical instances of wisdomin its changes and
transformations, give instruction in the results of itsdutiful motions,
proclaim its essential value and the perfections of the beings
within it, and express the meanings of that
mighty book; it indic-ates that he is certain to exist. Thus, the
traveller knew that it testified tothe truthfulness of this being, who
performed these functions better thananyone, and to his being a most elevated
and loyal official of the uni-verse’s Creator.
THE NINTH
There is behind the veil One Who wishes to demonstrate with
these in-genious and wise artefacts the perfection of His talent and art; to
makeHimself known and loved by means of these countless adorned and dec-orated
creations; to evoke praise and thanks through the unnumberedpleasurable and
valuable bounties that he bestows; to cause men to wor-ship Him with gratitude
and appreciation in the face of His dominicality,through His solicitous and
protective sustenance of life, and His provi-sion of nurture and bounty in such
manner as to satisfy the most delicateof tastes and appetites; to manifest His
Divinity through the change of
144
seasons, the alternation of night and day, and through all
His magnifi-cent and majestic deeds, all His awe-inspiring and wise acts and
creativ-ity, and thereby to cause men to believe in his Divinity, in
submission,humility and obedience; and to demonstrate His justice and
truthfulness by at all times protecting virtue and the virtuous and
destroying evil andthe evil, by annihilating with blows from heaven the
oppressor and theliar. There will of a certainty be at the side of this Unseen
Being His most beloved creature and most devoted bondsman, who, serving the pur-poses
that have just been mentioned, discovers and unravels the talis-man and riddle
of the creation of the universe, who acts always in thename of that Creator,
who seeks aid and success from Him, and who re-ceives them from Him—Muhammad of
Quraysh (Peace and blessings beupon him!)The traveller further said, addressing
his own intellect: “Since thesenine truths bear witness to the truthfulness of this
being, he must be thesource of glory of mankind and the source of honour for
the world. If wetherefore call him the Pride of the World and Glory of the Sons
of Adam,it will be fitting. The fact that the awesome sovereignty of that
decree of the Compassionate One, the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition that
heholds in his hand, has conquered half the world, together with his
indi-vidual perfections and exalted virtues, shows that he is the most
import-ant personage in the world. The most important word concerning
ourCreator is that which he utters.”Now see: the foundation of the summons of
this extraordinary beingand the aim of all his life, based on the strength
furnished by his hun-dreds of decisive and evident and manifest miracles, and
the thousandsof exalted, fundamental truths contained in his religion, was to
proveand bear witness to the existence of the Necessary Existent, His
Unity, at-tributes and Names, to affirm, proclaim and announce Him. He is
there-fore like a sun in the cosmos, the most brilliant proof of our Creator,
this being whom we call the Beloved of God. There are three forms of greatand
infallible consensus each of which affirms, confirms, and puts its sig-nature
to the witness he bears.
TheFirst:
the unanimous affirmation made by that luminous
assemblyknown and celebrated throughout the world as the Family of Muhammad
(Peace and blessings be upon him) including thousands of poles and supreme
saints of penetrating gaze and ability to perceive theUnseen, such Imam ‘Ali
(May God be pleased with him), who said,“Were the veil to be lifted, my
certainty would not increase,” and ‘Abdal-Qadir al-Gilani, Ghawth al-A‘zam (May
his mystery be sanctified),
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who saw the Supreme Throne and the awesome form of Israfil
while yeton the earth.
TheSecond:
the confirmation made with a strong faith that
permittedmen to sacrifice their lives and their property, their fathers and
tribes, bythe renowned assembly known as the Companions, who found them-selves
among a primitive people and in an unlettered environment,devoid of all social
life and political thought, without any scripture andlost in the darkness of a
period between prophets; and who in a very brief time came to be the
masters, guides, and just rulers of the most civ-ilized and
politically and socially advanced peoples and states, and torule the world from
east to west in universally approved fashion.
TheThird:
the confirmation provided with unanimous and
certainknowledge by that lofty group of punctilious and profound scholars
of whom in each age thousands spring forth, who advance in wondrousfashion
in every science and work in different fields.Thus, the testimony brought
by this being to the Divine Unity is notparticular and individual, but general
and universal and unshakeable. If all the demons that exist were to unite,
they could not challenge it. Suchwas the conclusion reached by the traveller.In
reference to the lesson learned in the School of Light by that travel-ler from
the world, that wayfarer in life, when he visited in his mind the blessed
age of the Prophet, we said at the end of
the Sixteenth Degree of the First Station:
There is no god but God, the Necessary Existent, the One, the
Unique, theNecessity of Whose Existence in Unity is indicated by the Pride of
the Worldand the Glory of the Sons of Adam, through the majesty of
the sovereignty of hisQur’an, the splendour of the expanse of his religion, the
multiplicity of his
per- fections, and the exaltedness of his characteristics, as confirmed even by thetestimony of his enemies. He bears witness and brings proof through thestrength
of his hundreds of manifest and evident miracles, that both testify totruth and
are themselves the object of true testimony; and through the strengthof the
thousands of luminous and conclusive truths contained in
his religion, ac-cording to the consensus of all the possessors of light,
the agreement of his il-lumined Companions, and the unanimity of the scholars
of his community, the possessors of proofs and luminous insight.The
Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
Said Nursi
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