The waves were in such a rush, like all the bustling people in the city.

Maybe if you rush you will get more done: that is their theory.

Ours is: how much we comprehend life.

Life is a gift given to you only once. Peacefully, take your time.

Maybe there is a norm.

Life should be rushed at some points and slowed at other times.

I guess it depends on your perspective of things,

Kind of like a movie “On Demand” when you think about it…

Some people like to watch the whole thing through once.

Others fast forward at some sections.

Some speed up at the scary parts, or the kissing scene.

Sometimes they rewind and analyze what the actor was trying to articulate.

It all depends on your perspective.

Life is one thing for sure though: too precious to waste.

If one wants to accomplish anything in life, he or she first must think.

You may think about why you are here, what the things around you represent, how you got here. You may question life. It’s one of the habitual things we should do.

You sit there, watch the waves rolling in, moving the sand at the beach, look over the horizon, and think…

God it is Who has made the sea to be of service to you by making it subservient (to His command), so that the ships may run through it by His command, and that you may seek of His bounty, and that (in return) you may be thankful. He has also made of service to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth; all is from Him (a gift of His Grace). Surely in this there are (clear) signs for a people who think deeply.

(Qur’an 45:12–13)

Ceyda Sablak is a high school senior who has yet many dreams to pursue in the life that waits for her…

In line with Professor Nasr’s ideas, and in an effort to seek knowledge in a holistic way, this issue examines diverse topics from science and spirituality. The lead article draws attention to “seditious organizations and followers of Satan who hold a grudge against people-particularly against believers.” With a comprehensive introduction on Satan’s rebellion and his role in the “controversy between unbelief and faith,” Fethullah Gulen calls believers to be on their guard against Satan’s contemporary followers and their temptation.

“Life is too complex to have occurred by mere chance,” says Ahmet Yildiz in his description of energy conversion in the microcosmic world of the cell in our body. Just like in a power plant, there is “a dynamic environment that involves constant formation, breakdown and repair of constituents” in a cell which is perfectly equipped with a command center, defense mechanisms, and the replication and repair systems of DNA.

In “The Last Prayer for Giants” we discover the wisdom in a Prophetic command to plant trees even when one knows doomsday is imminent. The importance of being kind to and protecting nature is emphasized in this allegory.

In return for our kindness to nature and thankfulness, God the All-Merciful

blesses us with many benefits from nature. Patchouli, for instance, is not only famous for its fragrance, but also a useful plant in medicine, in repelling pests, and even in cleaning our homes. There is more in “Health and Natural Balance with Patchouli.”

How do we achieve a balance between our jobs, personal lives, and families

and still serve the sole purpose of our existence-to worship God and seek His pleasure? How is it possible that God will grant believers eternal life although we can only achieve a limited number of actions in a limited lifetime? What is the secret of converting the finite into the infinite? The answer is in Vedat Akyuz’s essay on sincerity.

Medicine, like other fields of science, has developed enormously with techniques which surpass our imaginings. “Open Heart Surgery” is about a technique in which the heart is temporarily stopped while the body is connected to an artificial mechanism. Enis Turker describes this operation which opens a gateway for us to reflect upon the complex functions of our body, which are nothing but divine miracles.

Even though nature is an exhibition of miracles, we prefer to call it a book, for we hear and read it like a book and watch it with admiration while walking through its colorful gilt embroideries.

Just as the elegant architectural details of a chalet whisper that there is more to the chalet than what we see, this marvelous book of nature directs our consciousness to the source of all beauty and order beyond itself–the source that creates and brings to light. With every formation, this source makes us feel the presence of a perfect organizer and displayer. However, it cannot be sensed because its greatness is beyond human comprehension and perception.

When we look at the skies (heavens), we notice that this architecture in nature appears to be concentric. The mountains seem to lean their heads majestically at the skies’ feet, and the skies’ self-surrender to the strong desire of togetherness are nice symbols of this architecture.

This excellent book and perfect exhibition, created by Eternal Mercy and offered for our observation and study, is now even less valued and cared about than a pile of garbage. It is being transformed into a desert and rubbish from all quarters. Today nature is shaken, ruined, and scattered. Air, the throne of Divine Command and Will, is full of malicious smoke, a whirlpool fluctuating with subjugation. Water, the symbol of Compassion, is no more than death canals of tar.

The land, although created as a symbol of God’s infinite Kindness and Benevolence, is now an infertile desert having very little to offer.

Like all other things entrusted to us, we have ruined this book and destroyed this wonderful exhibition. Actually, we have betrayed ourselves by transforming this beautiful world into a hell.

If humanity does not rebuild and cultivate this destroyed planet and return it to its original beauty, we will experience events like Noah’s Flood in the near future.

A point of Divine Unity*

In His Name, be He glorified.

There is nothing but it glorifies

Him with praise.

My dear and faithful brothers and sisters! While reflecting on air during a mental journey, a subtle point related to Divine Unity suddenly became clear to me in the word He in There is no deity but He and Say: He is God. I observed that the way of belief is so easy as to be necessary, and that the way of misguidance and associating partners with God is so difficult as to be inconceivable. I shall explain this comprehensive matter briefly.

A handful of soil serves as a flowerbed for hundreds of flowers. If this process is attributed to nature or causality, each handful must contain hundreds of minute machines or factories [to produce the flowers] and an immaterial factory [to determine and govern their lives in place of the Divine Knowledge and Destiny]. Or, each particle must know how to make each flowers different characteristics and living elements. In other words, each particle would possess infinite knowledge and power, both of which are unique to God.

Each air molecule (a conductor of Divine Will and Command) in each gust, each shift of air making the sound He, must have minute centers, exchanges, receivers, and transmitters of all human means of communication so that each air molecule could perform those countless acts simultaneously. Or, each particle or molecule must control all relevant faculties (of mind, spirit, personality, etc.) of all means ofcommunication, know their users languages, and transmit them to the other particles simultaneously. Unbelievers, naturalists, and materialists ask us to believe this impossibility.

(If attributed to the Majestic Maker, however, all air particles become soldiers under His Command. Through their Creators permission and Power, their connection to and reliance on Him, and the manifestation of their Makers Power, they perform their innumerable universal duties as easily as if they were one particle with only one duty.)

Their duties are performed instantly, and with the ease of uttering He and the movement of air. And so air becomes a page for the Pen of Powers endless, wonderful, orderly inscriptions. Its particles become the Pens ribs, and the particles duties become the points inscribed by the Pen. All of this is done with the same ease as it takes to move one particle.

While observing and studying the world of air, I saw this truth clearly and in detail. I realized with a certainty based on knowledge that this is so because the actual word He and its utterance are both brilliant proofs and gleams of Divine Unity. I understood that its meaning and resonances contain a radiant manifestation of Divine Oneness and strong proof of Divine Unity. Moreover, that proof contains an indication to the identity of the One to Whom the indefinite, third-person, singular pronoun He refers. I came to know that both the Quran of Miraculous Expression and those who constantly recite the Divine Names frequently repeat this sacred word to express Divine Unity.

If several points are jumbled around one, it is almost impossible to distinguish that point. If you do several jobs simultaneously, you will be confused. If a living creature is loaded with many burdens at once, it will be crushed. If you listen to or say many words simultaneously, they become confused and muddled.

However, I saw with a certainty based on clear observation that although thousands of points,letters, and words are deposited in each air molecule ” even in each particle ” they are conveyed without confusion or irregularity. Also, the air performs its duties simultaneously and without confusion. Each air molecule or particle bears heavy burdens without lagging behind or displaying any weakness. Also, I witnessed countless words enter ears and leave mouths with perfect order.

(By carrying out all of its extraordinary duties, each particle and air molecule proclaims in the tongue of its being and functioning, in ecstasy and perfect freedom, and through its testimony: There is no deity but He and Say: He is God, the One. All of them travel among air-clashing waves like lightning and thunderstorms in perfect order and harmony.)

Given this, can we assert seriously that each particle or air molecule necessarily has infinite wisdom, knowledge, will, power, and all qualities needed to dominate all other particles so that it can perform those functions? Or, from a position of certainty based on knowledge, clear observation, and personal experience, can we assert logically that air functions here as a changing page for the Pen of Power and Destiny, used by the All-Majestic One with infinite knowledge and wisdom, and as a signboard (the Tablet of Abrogation and Confirmation) reflecting a changeable copy of the Divine decrees preserved on the Supreme Preserved Tablet?

Air shows the above-mentioned wonders and manifestation of Divine Oneness by transmitting sound, and shows the impossibility of what the misguided assert. In the same way, it performs other duties (e.g., transmitting such subtle forces as electricity and light, attraction and repulsion) while simultaneously transmitting sound. It also carries out duties essential for plant and animal life (e.g., respiration and pollination) with perfect order and without confusion.

Air is a very important means of conveying the Divine Will and Command. It performs its duties without any real or imagined interference from random chance, blind force, deaf nature, confused and aimless causality, or powerless, lifeless, and unknowing matter. I also understood that each particle and air molecule proclaims in the tongue of its being and functioning: There is no deity but God and Say: He is God, the One. Just as I witnessed these wonders in the physical aspect of air with the key of He, so air itself became a key, like He, to the World of Symbols or Ideas and the World of Meaning.

Peace be upon everybody!

* Adapted from Bediuzzamans Thirteenth Word.