Seventeenth Word
This treatise is a commentary on the verses: "We have adorned the earth with attractive things so that We may test people to find out which of them do best, // but We shall reduce all this to barren dust (Qur'an, 18: 7-8)." and "The life of this world is nothing but a game and a distraction… (Qur'an, 6: 32)" It exposes the reality of the world as a means to a higher end that is not worthy of attachment in and of itself.
Click to listen to Episode 1 (First Station), Episode 2 (First Station), Episode 3 (Second Station, “Stop wailing o the helpless!”), Episdoe 4 (Fruit of the Black Mulberry), Episode 5 (Colloquy in Persian), Episode 6 (Colloquy in Persian), Episode 7 (Colloquy in Persian), and Episode 8 (Two Tableaus).
Back to The Words.
ROUGH TRANSLATION from the RISALE-I NUR
translated by Dr. Mustafa Tuna
A rough translation of the section that is being discussed is posted below. This is a work in progress and should not be considered a finalized translation. It is only meant to help with understanding the recorded discussion.
اِنَّا جَعَلْناَ مَا عَلَى اْلاَرْضِ زِينَةً لَهَا لِنَبْلُوَهُمْ اَيُّهُمْ اَحْسَنُ عَمَلاً وَاِنَّا لَجَاعِلوُنَ مَاعَلَيْهَا صَعِيدًا جُرُزًا
We have adorned the earth with attractive things so that We may test people to find out which of them do best, // but We shall reduce all this to barren dust (Qur'an, 18: 7-8).
وَمَا الْحَيٰوةُ الدُّنْيَاۤ اِلاَّ لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ
The life of this world is nothing but a game and a distraction… (Qur'an, 6: 32)
This Word is composed of two lofty stations and one appendix.
First Station
The mercy-giving Creator, the munificent Provider, the all-wise Artful Maker makes this world in the form of a festivity and celebration for the realm of spirits and spiritual beings. He adorns it with the amazing aspects of the engravings of all of His names. And He dons every small or big, lofty or lowly spirit with a body that suits it and that is congruent with and equipped with the senses needed to benefit from the various and innumerable beauties and blessings in that festivity, He gives it a corporeal existence and sends to that spectacle once.
Furthermore, He has spread the festivity, which is quite vast in terms of time and space, over centuries, years, seasons, and even days and portions of days. He has made each century, each year, each season, and in a sense even each day and each portion of the day a lofty festivity in the form of a parade for some groups of spirited creatures and vegetal artifacts. Especially the face of the earth, especially at the time of spring and summer, are such splendid festivities one after the other for the various groups of smaller artifacts that an attractiveness that will draw the spiritual beings and angels of the higher layers as well as the dwellers of the heavens to watch is being seen. And it becomes such a place of perusal for the people of reflection that the intellect fails to describe.
However, in this divine feast and lordly festivity, the divine names of the Overpowerer and the Giver of Death counter the manifestations of the divine names of the Merciful and the Giver of Life with separation and death. And on the face of it, this does not appear to be congruent with the vastly extensive coverage of the mercy in وَرَحْمَتِى وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ (…but my mercy encompasses all things (Qur'an, 7: 156)). Yet, there are a few aspects of congruence in reality. One aspect is this:
Once the parade duty of each group finishes and the intended outcomes are obtained from that parade, in the majority of cases, the munificent Artful Maker and the mercy-giving One Who creates from nothing mercifully causes those groups hate the world and become weary of it, He bestows an inclination for rest and a yearning to move on to another realm, and when they are discharged from the duty of life, He awakens in their spirits a yearning inclination toward their original homeland.
Furthermore, it is not beyond the endless mercy of that Merciful One that in the way that He gives the rank of martyrdom to a soldier who perishes in the process of struggling for the fight or in the way that He rewards a sheep slaughtered in sacrifice by giving it a corporeal and lasting body in the Hereafter and the level of becoming a mount for its owner on the Bridge of Sirat… Likewise, for the other possessors of spirits and animals who perish while performing the specific lordly duties pertaining to their innate natures and obeying the commands of the Glorified One and who suffer difficulties, a kind of spiritual reward suitable for them and a type of metaphysical reward in accordance with their aptitudes are not beyond the unending treasures of His mercy to not exist, so that they are not hurt too much by leaving the world, and in fact, they are pleased… لاَ يَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ اِلاَّ اللهُ (No one knows the unseen but God (See Qur'an, 27: 65)).
Nonetheless, while the human being, who is the noblest of the possessors of spirit and the one who benefits most from these festivities both quantitatively and qualitatively, is much infatuated with and addicted to this world, out of mercy, He causes him to hate the world and gives him a yearning state to move on to the everlasting realm. The human being whose individual humanity is not drowned in misguidance benefits from that state and leaves with peace in the heart. Now, as examples, we will elucidate five of the considerations that lead to that state:
First: By showing with the season of old age the stamps and bitter meanings of annihilation and extinction on those beautiful and attractive worldly things, He scares the human being away from the world, and instead of that which is temporal, He causes him to seek a lasting thing worthy of demand.
Second: Because ninety-nine percent of the beloveds that the human being is attached leaves the world and settles in another realm, by means of that serious love, He bestows a yearning toward where the beloveds have gone and causes the human being face death and the appointed time happily.
Third: By means of certain things, He causes the human being sense his endless weakness and impotence, understand how heavy the burden of life and the responsibilities of living are, and gives a serious desire for rest and a sincere yearning to go to a different land.
Fourth: He shows to the believing human being with the light of faith that death is not descension into nonexistence, it is a change of locations. As for the grave, it is not the mouth of a well full of darkness, it is the gate of luminous realms. With all its splendor, the world is in effect a dungeon compared to the Hereafter. Of course, entering the paradisiacal gardens from the earth’s dungeon, moving from the vexing turmoils of corporeal life to a realm of comfort and an arena for the flight of spirits, and going to the peaceful presence of the Merciful One by ridding oneself from the distressing noise of creatures is a journey to be desired a thousand times with heart and soul, in fact it is a felicity.
Fifth: For the human being who listens to the Qur’an, by informing him of the knowledge of reality that is in the Qur’an and, with the light of reality, of the world’s quiddity, it is to have him understand that ardently loving the world and becoming attached to it are meaningless. That is, it tells to the human being and proves that:
“The world is a book of the Eternally Besought One. Its letters and words indicate not themselves but, in fact, the Entity, attributes, and names of Someone else. In that case, know its meaning and take that, yet leave its engravings and move on.”
“Also, it is a cultivating field. Cultivate and harvest it to keep, but toss away and do not pay attention to the waste.”
“Also, it is a collection of mirrors that come and pass one after the other continually. In that case, know what it is that is reflecting on them, see His lights, understand the manifestations of the names that appear on the mirrors, love the Named that they name, and cut your attachment to the pieces of glass that are doomed for extinction and breaking.”
“Also, it is a traveling place of trade. In that case, buy and sell, then come; do not run after the convoys that run away from you and that do not pay attention to you in vain, do not tire yourself.”
“Also, it is a temporary place of spectacle. Then, look with a sight ready to take lessons, and pay attention not to its apparent and ugly face, but to its hidden and beautiful face, which looks to the everlasting Beautiful One. Take a nice and beneficial stroll of enjoyment, then return. Do not cry like a child without intellect and worry upon the closure of those screens that expose beautiful sceneries and show beauties.”
“Also, it is a guesthouse. Then, eat and drink within the confines of the circle of what the munificent Host Who has made it permits, and show gratitude. Act and move within the confines of the circle of His law. Then exit and leave without looking behind. Do not meddle in things like a blathering and vain person. Do not occupy yourself with meaningles things that leave you and that do not belong to you. Do not become attached to your temporary affairs and drown in them.”
And with obvious truths like this, the Qur’an shows the secrets in the inner dimension of the world and renders separation from it easy. In fact, it endears separation to the wakeful ones, and shows that His mercy has a trace in everything, in every one of His conducts.
Thus, the Qur'an points to these five considerations, and additionally, the Qur’anic verses point to other specific considerations too. Woe to the person who has no share from these five considerations.
Second Station
Stop wailing o the helpless…
Stop wailing o the helpless; come, put your trust in God in the face of trouble,
For know that wailing is trouble within more trouble and error.
Know that there is a gift and joyful pleasure in the trouble if you find the One Who gives it.
Stop wailing and be grateful like the nightingales, and everything else will be smiling out of joy.
Yet know that if you do not find Him, the entire world is a waste filled with suffering and annihilation.
Why are you screaming about a small trouble while you are surrounded by troubles enough to fill the world? Come, put your trust in God.
Smile at the face of the trouble having put your trust in God, so that it too smiles.
As you smile, it shrinks and transforms.
Know o the self-absorbed one! Felicity in this world is in abandoning the world.
If you are God-centered, then He is sufficient; everything will be in your favor even if you leave them.
Yet, if you are self-centered, that is destruction; everything will be against you whatever you do.
Then, the world should be abandoned in either case.
Abandoning it means: It is God’s property and is to be viewed with His permission and in His name.
If you want a trade, it is in replacing this temporal life that you have with an everlasting one.
If you demand your self, it is both rotten and without foundation.
If you want the outer horizons, on it is the stamp of annihilation.
Then, it is not worth the purchase; all merchandise is rotten in this marketplace.
In that case, move on; the good products are lined up behind it.
A Fruit of the Black Mulberry
The Old Said has said this with the language of the New Said under that blessed mulberry tree.
The one I am addressing is not Ziya Pasha but those who are infatuated by Europe.
The one who speaks is not my lower soul but my heart in the name of the students of the Qur’an.
The previous Words are the truth, by all means, do not lose course, beware, do not exceed your bounds.
Do not stray into the Europeans’ idea, it is misguidance, do not heed, or else, it will certainly make you regret.
You see, the most enlightened and the standard-bearer in brilliance among you
As a result of that state of bewilderment says incessantly: “Woe to me, of whom shall I complain to whom, I am lost!”
The Qur’an causes me to say and thus, I say, and I hesitate not:
I complain of it to Him, I do not get lost.
In my reality, I cry out to the Real, I do not exceed [the bounds] like you.
I lodge a claim from the Earth to the Heavens, I do not escape like you.
For in the Qur’an the claim is from light to light, I do not back down like you.
In the Qur’an is truth and wisdom, I prove, I do not give a dime to the opposition of philosophy.
The diamond truth is in the Criterion, I accept it with heart and soul, I don’t sell it out like you.
I journey from the creation to the Real, I do not stray away like you.
I fly over the thorny path, I do not step in it like you.
I offer gratitude from the Earth to the Throne, I do not skip out on it.
I look on death and the appointed time as friends, I am not afraid of them like you.
I enter the grave with a laugh, I am not scared like you.
The mouth of a dragon, a bed of wilderness, the passage to nothingness – I do not see it like you.
It takes me to the beloved ones, I am not offended by the grave, I do not get angry at it like you.
The gate of mercy, the gate of light, the gate of the Real, I am not discomforted by it, I do not retreat.
I knock on it saying Bismillah (In the name of God) (sidenote 1), I do not look back, I am not in dread either.
I will find comfort and curl up in it saying Alhamdu lillah (All praise is due to God), I will suffer no burden, I will not be left in wilderness.
I will hear the adhan of Resurrection and rise up saying Allahu akbar (God is the greatest!) (sidenote 2), I do not shrink from the Great Resurrection, I do not withdraw from the Tremendous Mosque.
Thanks to God’s grace, the Qur’an’s light, and the effusion of faith, I suffer no sorrow.
Not stopping, I will run to it, I will fly to the shade of the Throne of the Merciful, God willing, I will not lose course like you.
Sidenote 1: I am not running away saying “Woe to me.”
Sidenote 2: Hearing Israfil’s adhan at the dawn of Resurrection I will rise up saying Allahu akbar (God is the greatest!). I do not withdraw from the Greatest Prayer, I do not shrink from the Greatest Gathering.
A Colloquy that Came to the Heart in Persian
هذه المناجاة تخطرت إلى القلب هكذا باللسان الفارسي
That is, because this colloquy came to the heart in Persian, it is written in Persian. It was formerly included in the Hubab (Bubbles) Treatise, which was printed.
O Lord! I have observed the six directions yet not found a remedy for my disease.
O Lord! Without putting my trust in You, in a state of heedlessness, and relying on my power and faculty of choice, I have observed the six directions to look for a remedy for my disease. Regretably, I have not been able to find one. I was told in a metaphysical sense: “Does your disease not suffice you as a remedy?”
On my right, I have seen that yesterday is the grave of my father.
Yes, in a state of heedlessness, I looked to the past time on my right to find consolation, yet I saw the day of yesterday appearing as my father’s grave and past time as a vast graveyard filled with my ancestors. Instead of consolation, they bewildered me. (Faith shows that vast and bewildering graveyard as an illuminated and congenial assembly and a gathering of beloved friends.)
On the left, I have seen that tomorrow is my grave.
Then, I looked at the future on the left, I could not find a remedy. In fact, the day of tomorrow appeared as my grave and the future as a colossal grave filled with my peers and the future generations. Instead of a sense of congeniality, they bewildered me. (Faith and the sense of presence before God that is in faith shows that dreadful colossal grave as a reception of the Merciful One in amiable palaces of felicity.)
Today is the coffin carrying my body all in afflictions.
Not seeing any good on the left either, I looked at the present day. I saw this day as though it is a coffin. It is carrying the corpse of my body that is moving in the throes of death. (Faith shows that coffin as a place of commerce and a splendid guesthouse.)
My corpse is standing at the end of the span of my life.
I could not find consolation from this direction either. Then, I lifted my head and looked at the top of the tree of the span of my life. I saw that the only fruit of that tree is my corpse, looking at me from the top of that tree. (Faith shows the fruit of that tree not as a corpse, but in fact, as the departure of my spirit, which is graced with eternal life and is a candidate for eternal felicity, from its worn out home in order to travel among the stars.)
Under my feet are the water and dust of my creation and the ashes of my bones.
Despairing of that direction too, I lowered my head. I looked and saw that below, underfoot, the dust of my bones has blended with the dust of my first creation. It added to my disease, let alone offering a remedy. (Faith shows that that dust is the gate of mercy and a curtain before the halls of Paradise.)
Whenever I look behind, I see this world to be nought within nought.
I turned my gaze away from that too and looked behind. I saw that a temporal world that has no foundation is rolling and disappearing in the valleys of nothingness and darkness of nonexistence. It added the poison of bewilderment and dread to my disease, let alone offering a salve. (Faith shows that that world rolling in darkness is letters of the Eternally Besought One and pages of the engravings of the Glorified One. It has finished its duty, expressed its meaning, and left its outcomes in existence in its place.)
Ahead of me, as far as the sight goes, the grave is wide open.
Behind it, the long path of eternity is showing its face.
Not having seen any good there either, I turned my gaze forward and looked ahead. I saw that the grave’s door is open at the end of my path, and behind it, the highway leading to eternity is visible from a distance. (Since faith shows that door of the grave as the gate of the realm of light and that road as the path of eternal felicity, this can be a remedy and salve for my diseases.)
I have nothing in my hand save but a thing of partial choice,
Thus, having been filled with dread and bewilderment in these six directions rather than finding a sense of congeniality and consolation, I have nothing to rely on other than partial choice in my hand in order to resist them. (Instead of the partial choice, which is in effect an indivisible part, faith grants a certificate to rely on an unending power. And in fact, faith is a certificate.)
Which is impotent, shortfalling, and deceitful.
Yet, that weapon of the human being which is called partial choice is both impotent and short. Moreover, its steel is deficient in quality. It cannot bring anything into existence. It is capable of nothing apart from volitional exertion. (Faith enables one to employ that partial choice in the name of God and thus makes it suffice in the face of everything, in the way that when a soldier employs his small power in the name of the state, he can accomplish thousands of times greater than the equivalent of his own power.)
It has no way of dwelling in the past nor the ability to penetrate the future.
It cannot dwell in time that has passed, nor can it penetrate time yet to come. It is not of benefit for my expectations and pains concerning the past and the future. (Since faith takes its reins from the animal body and gives them to the heart and the spirit, [partial choice] can penetrate the past and dwell in the future. Because, the heart’s and the spirit’s circle of life is broad.)
It is confined to the present and a single flowing moment.
The arena where that partial choice can wander around is this most brief present time and a flowing moment.
Yet in all its poverty and weakness, Your pen of power is obvious
In having inscribed in “my innate nature” an inclination for eternity and prolonged expectation.
Thus, while I am in a distraught state owing to all of these needs and my weakness, poverty, and impotence along with the dread and bewilderment coming from six directions, desires extending to eternity and expectations dispersed in perpetuity are visibly inscribed by the pen of power on the page of my innate nature; they are included in my quiddity.
In fact, whatever exists is in it.
In fact, whatever exists in the world, their samples exist in my innate nature. I am attached to them all. I employ [my faculties] and work for them.
The circle of needs is wide like the circle of the extent of sight.
The circle of needs is as big and wide as the circle of sight.
The needs follow the imagination to wherever it goes.
Whatever is absent in hand, it is present in need.
So much so that wherever the imagination goes, the circle of needs extends that far; there is a need there too. In fact, whatever is absent in hand, it is present in need; and there is no limit to what is absent in hand.
The circle of my power is as narrow as the reach of my short hand.
However, the circle of power is as short and narrow as the circle of the reach of my short hand.
Hence, my poverty and neediness are as big as the world.
Thus, my poverty and needs are are as big as the world.
My capital is as small as an “indivisible thing.”
And my capital is as small as an indivisible particle.
Where is this thing and where is my neediness as vast as the cosmos?
Hence, where is the need that is as big as this world and worth billions, and where is this partial choice worth five cents? Those cannot be purchased or earned with this. In that case, one must look for another way out.
Hence, I take Your path, abandoning that thing and seeking recourse in Your generosity,
That way out is this: To latch on the true principle of putting your trust in God by abandoning partial choice, leaving your affair to divine will, and turning away from your own protecting strength or effecting power and taking refuge in the protecting strength and effecting power of the Sublime Real. O Lord! Since this is the way out for salvation, I am abandoning that partial choice in your path and turning away from my I-ness.
So that Your solicitude becomes my relief and Your endless mercy my refuge,
So that Your solicitude holds my hand out of mercy for my impotence and weakness, and that Your mercy becomes my point of reliance out of compassion for my poverty and neediness, thus opening its doors for me.
For the one who finds the endless sea of mercy
Does not rely on that partial choice, which is but the mirage of a drop of water.
Yes, of course, whoever finds the endless sea of mercy does not count on his partial choice, which is in effect the mirage of a drop of water; he does not leave mercy and appeal to that mirage.
Oh, no! This worldly life of mine is but a dream,
And the span of life has no foundation, passing like the wind.
Oh no! We were deceived! We presumed this worldly life to be permanent and fell in complete loss because of that presumption. Yes, the passage of this life is but a sleep; it passed like a dream. The span of this life which has no foundation will also fly away like the blow of a wind and disappear.
Man faces annihilation and the world extinction, his expectations do not last yet his pains do.
The vainglorious person who puts his trust in himself and presumes himself to be permanent is doomed to extinction and moves toward it with rapidity. As for the world, which is home to the human being, it falls into the darknesses of nonexistence. Expectations last not, yet pains last in the spirit.
O my unfortunate soul! Sacrifice your temporal existence
To your Creator Who has given your existence to you in trust.
Since this is the reality. Come, O my unfortunate soul which yearns for life, demands more of the span of life, adores the world, and is afflicted with unlimited expectations and pains! Wake up, come to your senses! In the way that the firefly counts on its tiny light and is left in the endless darkness of the night, yet by not relying on itself, the honeybee finds the sun of the day and witnesses all the flowers, which are its companions, glittering in the sun’s radiant light…
Likewise, if you rely on yourself, on your body and I-ness, you become like the firefly. If you sacrifice your temporal existence to your Creator Who has given that existence to you, you become like the honeybee and find an endless light of existence. And do sacrifice, because this existence is put in your possession as a trust.
And it is His property. Then annihilate it so that it can find everlastingness, now.
The secret in this is that “the negation of negation” is affirmation.
It is His property and He has given it. In that case, annihilate it, sacrifice it without expecting anything in return and without hesitation, so that it finds everlastingness. Because the negation of negation is affirmation. That is, if nonexistence is nonexistent, it exists. Nonexistence comes into existence by disappearing into nonexistence.
With His absolute munificence, God is purchasing His own property from you
For a precious price and to keep it for you.
The Munificent Creator is purchasing His own property from you and is giving a price great as Paradise. Moreover, he is preserving that property in the best way for you and increasing its value. He will give it back to you in perfect condition and to last forever. In that case, O my soul, don’t wait a second. Do this trade involving five profits within one another, so that you find salvation from five losses and earn five profits all at once.[i]
[i] On this point also see the “Sixth Word” in Nursi, Sözler, 25-29.
Two Tableaus
About twenty-five years ago, at the Joshua Hill by the Bosphorus, at a time when I had decided to abandon the world, some of my important friends visited me in order to return me to the world, back to my former state. I said: “Leave me until tomorrow; let me do istikhārah [seek counsel with God].” These two tableaus came to my heart in the morning. They resemble poetry, but they are not poetry. I did not try to improve them out of respect for the memory of that blessed incident. It was preserved as it came. It was included at the end of the Twenty Third Word. It is moved here due to the relevance of the station.
First Tableau
This is the tableau that describes the reality of the world of the people of heedlessness.
Do not call me to the world. I came to it and saw it to be temporal.
When heedlessness became a veil, I saw the light of the Real to be concealed.
I saw all things and existent beings each to be temporal and harmful.
If you mention existence, I donned it. Ah! It was nonexistence, I saw much trouble in it.
If you mention life, I tasted it. I saw it torment within torment.
The intellect became a punishment in itself. I saw lastingness to be a calamity.
The span of life became vain desire itself, I saw perfection to be waste itself.
The deeds became very ostentation, I saw expectation to be pain itself.
Reunion became extinction itself, I saw the remedy to be the very affliction.
These lights turned into darknesses, I saw these loved ones to be orphans.
These sounds became the heralds of death, I saw these living beings to be the dead.
All knowledge turned into groundless illusions; in wisdoms, I saw a thousand diseases.
Delight became very pain; in existence, I saw a thousand instances of non-existence.
If you mention the beloved, I found it. Ah! I saw much pain in separation.
Second Tableau
This is the tableau that points to the reality of the world of the people of guidance and divine presence.
When heedlessness became extinct, I saw the light of the Real manifest.
Existence became the demonstration of the Divine Entity. Life is a mirror of the Real, see.
The intellect became a key to treasures. Annihilation is the gate of everlastingness, see.
The flash of perfection died away, yet there exists the Sun of beauty, see.
Extinction became very reunion, pain is the very delight, see.
The span of life became a deed in itself; eternity is the very span of life, see.
Darknesses became the envelope of radiant light. There is true life in this death, see.
All things became congenial, all sounds are voices of remembrance, see.
All particles of existent beings are each performers of remembrance, each a glorifier, see.
I found poverty to be the treasure of sufficiency. There is complete power in impotence, see.
If you found God, all things are yours, see.
If you are a slave of the Owner of Dominion, His dominion is yours, see.
If you are self-centered and in possession of your own self, that is countless calamity, see.
It is boundless torment, taste. It is endlessly heavy, see.
If you are a truly God-centered slave, that is unlimited joy, see.
There is a reward with no count, taste it; see endless felicity.