My loyal new brothers and old prisoners!
I have formed the firm
conclusion that, in respect of divine favor, you are an important
cause in our entering here. That is to say, with its consolation
and the truths of belief, the Risale-i Nur is to save both you
from the distress of this calamity of prison and from much worldly
harm, and your life from passing profitlessly and quite in vain
through grief and sorrow and being wasted on the winds of fancy,
and your Hereafter from weeping like your world is weeping now;
it is to provide you with true solace.
Since the reality of the
matter is this, of course you must be brothers to one another,
like the Denizli prisoners and Students of the Risale-i Nur.
You can see that they examine all your possessions, food, bread,
and soup which come from outside so that a knife does not get
in among you and you do not attack one another. The warders
who faithfully serve you suffer much trouble. Also, you do not
go out to exercise together, as though you were going to attack
one another like wild beasts. And so, new friends, who are by
nature bold and courageous, with great moral courage you should
say to the group at this time:
"If not knives, but Mausers
and revolvers were given us, and the order to fire as well,
we would not hurt our friends who are unfortunate and suffering
this calamity like ourselves. Through the guidance and at the
command of the Qur'an, and belief, and Islamic brotherhood,
and our interests, we have decided to forgive them and to try
not to offend them, even if formerly there were a hundred reasons
for our enmity and hostility." And so transform this prison
into an auspicious place of study.
* * * *
THE ANNEX TO THE SECOND STATION OF THE 13TH WORD : AN IMPORTANT
ISSUE REMINDED ON THE NIGHT OF POWER (QADR)
I shall allude briefly
to a most extensive and lengthy truth which occurred to my heart
on the Night of Power.
Because of the extreme
tyranny and despotism of this last World War and its merciless
destruction, and hundreds of innocents being scattered and ruined
on account of a single enemy, and the awesome despair of the
defeated, and the fearsome alarm of the victors and their ghastly
pangs of conscience arising from the supremacy they are unable
to maintain and the destruction they are unable to repair, and
the utter transitoriness and ephemerality of the life of this
world and the deceptive and opiate nature of the fantasies of
civilization becoming apparent to all, and the exalted abilities
lodged in human nature and the human essence being wounded in
a universal and awesome manner, and heedlessness and misguidance
and deaf, lifeless nature being smashed by the diamond sword
of the Qur'an, and the exceedingly ugly, exceedingly cruel true
face of world politics becoming apparent, which is the widest
and most suffocating and deceptive cover for heedlessness and
misguidance, most certainly and without any shadow of a doubt,
since the life of this world -which is the metaphorical beloved
of mankind- is thus ugly and transient, man's true nature will
search with all its strength for eternal life, which it truly
loves and yearns for, just as there are signs of this occurring
in the North, the West, and in America.
And most certainly there
is no doubt that since the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition,
which each century for one thousand three hundred and sixty
years has had three hundred and fifty million students, and
sets the seal on each of its pronouncements and claims through
the affirmation of millions of profound, veracious scholars,
and each minute has been present with its sacredness in the
hearts of millions of hafiz's and given instruction to mankind
through their tongues, and which in a way unmatched by any other
book conveys the good news of eternal life and everlasting happiness
to mankind and heals all their wounds, since the Qur'an has
given this certain good news of eternal life and happiness with
thousands of its insistent, powerful and repeated verses, and
with its certain unshakeable proofs and innumerable indubitable
arguments which invite and give news explicitly and implicitly
tens of thousands of times, so long as human kind does not altogether
lose its mind and a material or immaterial doomsday does not
erupt over its head, the broad masses and great states in the
world will search out the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, and
having grasped its truths, will embrace it with all their lives
and spirits, just as there are [now] famous preachers in Sweden,
Norway, Finland and England working to have the Qur'an accepted,
and the important community of America is searching for the
true religion.
Because in view of this
fact, the Qur'an by no means has nor can have any equal. And
absolutely nothing can take the place of this greatest miracle.
SECONDLY: Since the Risale-i Nur
has per- formed a service like a diamond sword in the hand of
this greatest miracle and compelled its stubborn enemies to
submit, and acts as a herald to the treasures of the Qur'an
in a fashion that illuminates and heals completely both the
heart, and the spirit, and the emotions, and has no source nor
authority other than the Qur'an and is its miracle, it performs
that duty perfectly.
Furthermore it has completely
routed the obstinate atheists and their fearsome propaganda
against it, and smashed to pieces with the treatise Nature:
Cause or Effect nature, which is the most impregnable bastion
of misguidance, and, with the Sixth Matter in the treatise Fruits
of Belief together with the First, Second, Third and Eighth
Proofs all of which are included in the book The Staff of Moses,
has banished heedlessness in a most brilliant fashion in its
most dense, suffocating and extensive sphere under the wide-reaching
veils of science and has demonstrated the light of divine unity.
For sure, since religious
instruction is now officially permitted and permission has been
given to open private places of study, it is necessary for us
and essential for the nation that, as far as is possible, Students
of the Risale-i Nur should open a small 'Risale-i Nur Study
Center' in every place. Although everyone would benefit to some
extent, not everyone would understand every matter completely.
But since these matters are explanations of the truths of belief,
they are both learning, and knowledge of Allah, and lead to
Allah's presence, and are worship.
Insha'llah, these 'Risale-i
Nur Medreses' will
secure in five to ten weeks the same results that the former
medreses produced in five to ten years and they have been so
doing for twenty years.
Also it is essential for
the Government not to interfere with these Flashes of the Qur'an,
the Risale-i Nur, which is the Qur'an's herald and is beneficial
in many ways for the worldly and political life of this nation
and country, and for its life in the Hereafter. Rather, it should
work for its total spread and acceptance, so that it will atone
for the grievous sins of the past, and form a barrier to the
severe trials and anarchy of the future.
Said
Nursi
* * * *
THE SEVENTH HOPE FROM THE 26TH FLASH
from the Treatise for
the Elderly
One time at the start
of my old age when the laughter of the Old Said was being transformed
into the weeping of the New Said, supposing me still to be the
Old Said, the worldly in Ankara invited me there, and I went.
At the close of autumn
I climbed to the top of the citadel, which was far more aged,
dilapidated, and worn out than me. It seemed to me to be formed
of petrified historical events. The old age of the season of
the year together with my old age, the citadel's old age, mankind's
old age, the old age of the glorious Ottoman State and the death
of the Caliphate's rule, and the world's old age all caused
me to look in a most grieved, compassionate and melancholy state
in that lofty citadel at the valleys of the past and the mountains
of the future.
As I experienced an utterly
black state of mind in Ankara encompassed by four or five layers
of the darknesses of old age one within the other 4,
I sought a light, a solace, a hope.
As I sought consolation
looking to the right, that is, to the past, my father and forefathers
and the human race appeared in the form of a vast grave and
filled me with gloom rather than consoling me. Seeking a remedy
I looked to the future, which was my left. I saw that it appeared
as a huge, dark grave for myself, my contemporaries, and future
generations; it produced horror in place of familiarity. Feeling
desolate in the face of the left and right, I looked at the
present day. It appeared to my heedless and historical eye as
a coffin bearing my half-dead, suffering and desperately struggling
corpse. Then, despairing from that direction as well, I raised
my head and looked at the top of the tree of my life, and saw
that the tree bore only a single fruit, and that was my corpse;
it stood at the top of the tree and was watching me. Feeling
horror at this direction, too, I bowed my head. I looked to
the foot of the tree of my life, to its roots, and saw that
the soil there, the earth which was the source of my creation
and the dust of my bones mixed together, was being trampled
underfoot. That was no remedy, rather it added further pain
to my affliction.
Then I was forced to look
behind me. I saw that this unstable, transient world was tumbling,
disappearing into the valleys of nothingness and the darkness
of non-existence. While seeking a salve for my pain, it only
added poison. Since I could see no good in that direction I
looked in front of me, I sent forward my view to the future.
I saw that the door of the grave was to be seen open right in
the middle of my path, it was watching me with its mouth open.
The highway beyond it which stretched away to eternity, and
the convoys travelling that highway struck the eye from the
distance. And apart from a limited, partial power of choice
as my support and defensive weapon in the face of the horrors
coming from these six directions, I had nothing else.
Since the partial power
of choice, man's only weapon against those innumerable enemies
and endless harmful things, is both defective, and short, and
weak, and lacks the power to create, man is capable of nothing
apart from acquisition. I could neither pass to the past in
order to silence the sorrows which came to me from there, nor
could I penetrate the future to prevent the fears which came
from there. I saw that there was no benefit in my hopes and
pains concerning the past and future.
At the time I was struggling
in the horror, desolation, darkness and despair coming from
these six directions, the lights of belief which shine in the
sky of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition suddenly came to
my assistance. They lit up and illuminated those six directions
to such a degree that if the terrors and darkness I had seen
increased a hundredfold, that light would still have been sufficient
to meet them. It transformed all those horrors one by one into
solace and the desolation into familiarity. It was as follows:
Belief rent asunder the
desolate view of the past as a vast grave, and showed it with
utter certainty to be a familiar and enlightened gathering of
friends.
And belief showed the
future, which had appeared in the form of a huge grave to my
heedless eyes, to be most certainly a banquet of the Most Merciful
One in delightful palaces of bliss.
And belief rent the view
of present time as a coffin, as it had appeared to my heedless
view, and showed it with certainty to be a place of trade for
the Hereafter and a glittering guest-house of the All Merciful
One.
And belief showed with
utter certainty that the only fruit at the top of the tree of
life was not a corpse as had appeared to my neglectful eye,
rather, that my spirit, which would manifest eternal life and
was designated for eternal happiness, would leave its wom out
home to travel around the stars.
And belief showed through
the mystery of belief that my bones and the earth which was
the source of my creation were not valueless pulverized bones
trampled underfoot, rather, that the soil was the door to Divine
Mercy and a veil before the hall of Paradise.
And belief showed through
the mystery of the Qur'an that the world which had appeared
to my heedless eye behind me as tumbling into nothingness and
non-existence to consist of missives of the Eternally Besought
One and pages of decorations and embroideries glorifying Allah
which had completed their duties, stated their meanings, and
left their results in existence in their place. It made known
with complete certainty what the true nature of the world is.
And belief showed through
the light of the Qur'an that the grave which would open its
eyes and look at me in the future was not the door of a well,
rather, that it was the door to the world of light, and that
the highway which stretched to eternity beyond the grave led
not to nothingness and non-existence, but to existence, a place
of light, and eternal bliss. Since belief demonstrated this
to a degree which afforded utter conviction, it was both a remedy
and a salve for my afflictions.
And in place of a very
minor ability to receive, belief puts a document into the hand
of the limited, partial power of choice so that it may rely
on an infinite Power and be connected to a boundless Mercy in
the face of those innumerable enemies and layers of darkness.
Indeed, belief is a document in the hand of the partial power
of choice. And although this human weapon of partial choice,
is in itself both short, and powerless, and deficient, just
as when a soldier utilizes his partial strength on account of
the state, he performs duties far exceeding his own strength,
so too through the mystery of belief, if the limited, partial
power of choice is used in the name of Almighty Allah and in
His way, it may gain also a Paradise as broad as five hundred
years.
And belief takes from
the hands of the body the reins of the partial power of choice,
which cannot penetrate to the past and future, and hands them
over to the heart and spirit. Since the spirit and heart's sphere
of life is not restricted to present time like the body, and
included within it are a great many I years from the past and
a great many years from the future, the partial power of choice
ceases being partial and acquires universality. Just as through
the strength of belief it may enter the deepest valleys of the
past and repel the darkness of its sorrows, so also with the
light of belief it may rise as far as the farthest mountains
of the future, and remove its fears.
And so my elderly brothers
and sisters who are suffering the difficulties of old age like
myself! Since, praise be to Allah, we are believers, and in
belief there are this many luminous, pleasurable, agreeable,
and gratifying treasures; and since our old age impels us even
more to the contents of the treasure, for sure, rather than
complaining about old age accompanied by belief, we should offer
endless thanks.
* * * *
4
My
state of mind at that time prompted me to write a supplication
in Persian. It was printed in Ankara, in a treatise entitled,
Hubab
